Power and Responsibility
by darkphoneix
Summary: Ranma stumbles across a cube that grants him phenomenal powers and removes his curse! Are all his problems solved or are they only beginning?
1. Prologue

  
  
Power and Responsibility: Prologue  
  
Walking home alone from school, Ranma casually whistled a tuneless   
melody. Life was good at the moment for Ranma. Soon he would be   
moving back home to his own home with his mother. Even better, she   
had forbidden all of his fiances, including Akane, from coming onto   
her property because of the ring incident that had demolished her   
home. Of course this had enraged his harem to the point of almost   
attacking the Saotome matricarch, in front of Ranma, no less. Now   
the fiances were on probation, imposed by his mother, and were on   
their very best behavior. None of them wanted their claim on Ranma   
nullified by his mother. To Ranma, all this meant that he now had   
a peaceful place to relax and train, a sanctuary. He absolutely   
couldn't wait till the next time Ryoga showed up. If he broke anything   
there was a good chance that the family would be eating bacon for   
breakfast the next morning. Ranma decided not to let it go that far.   
He would stop his mom from killing the pig right after she had maimed   
him a little.  
  
As he was about to jump over an intersection, Ranma saw through the   
corner of his eye, a small black object lying on the sidewalk. It   
caught his attention because it was flashing darkness, literally   
causing a shadow, a foot in diameter to appear and disappear around   
it every second. Thinking that it may be valuable to Cologne, she   
did have all that magic crap, he walked off the fence instead of   
jumping and landed next to the object. Between being closer to it   
and the longer interval of flashes, Ranma was able to see that the   
object was a small cube and not entirely black; silver ran like   
veins through the cube. The closer his hand came to grasping it   
the longer it took to flash, until finally when he picked it up,   
it stopped completely. Before he could straighten, Ranma's world   
went dark.  
****  
  
He was standing on a vast expanse of black stone with streaks of   
silver running through it. The cube was no longer in his hand. The   
sky was a white void and there were no landmarks in sight.  
  
"Damn, damn, damn!" Ranma's shout echoed hollowly. How an echo was   
even possible where nothing existed to return the sound was lost   
on Ranma."Why does this shit always happen to me? Now I've been   
abducted by aliens!"  
  
For nothing more than stress relief, Ranma gathered as much chi as   
he could in his hand and flung it carelessly of toward the horizon.   
The concussion from the explosion as the blast struck, even miles   
away, nearly knocked Ranma off his feet.  
  
"How does host accomplish this?" someone asked from behind him. Ranma   
spun, eager to find someone to explain waht in hell was going on. He   
jumped back in suprise when he was confronted by a floating ball of   
the same silver-streaked black stone."How does host create energy   
weapons without mechanical mean?"  
  
Ranma gaped at the talking ball. Maybe he had just fallen off the fence   
and hit his head. That must be it. He wasn't really on another planet   
and that ball wasn't really talking to him. All he had to do was let   
the delusion play out and he could wake up, just like in the movies."Why   
do you keep calling me host? My name's Ranma."  
  
"Host designation noted: Ranma. For conversion purposes, self must know   
how Ranma created the energy weapon." Ranma noticed that as it talked   
the silver in it glowed slightly.  
  
"That was a chi blast," he answered.  
  
"What is chi?"  
  
"Chi is my spirit, the energy that my body makes." Thinking back,   
Ranma discovered that this was the longest conversation he'd had with   
anyone besides his mom, in months.  
  
"Ranma designated as bio-energy manipulator."  
  
"Could you please tell me where I am and what you are?" pressed Ranma.   
He didn't really like being called a bio-energy manipulator, whatever   
that was.  
  
"Ranma is within self. Self is the artificially sentient entity in charge   
of the conversion process." The stone ball began floating after Ranma as   
he started walking in no particular direction.  
  
"Okay Self, what is the conversion process?" Ranma thought he was   
remaining remarkably calm, especially for someone with the growing   
suspiscion he really was inside of a tiny little chunk of stone.  
  
"The conversion process involves flooding of Ranma's body with nano-  
molecular machine. They will alter Ranma's physiology beyond   
his evolutionary level, implant a series of minute phasically   
aligned spacial, gravity, and magnetic field generators in strategic   
points throughout Ranma's body, and reconstruct Ranma's neural pathways   
to increase his spacial awareness and provide a link to self's database."  
  
Ranma didn't understand half of what Self was saying, but enough of   
it registered to cause him to panic."What?! You mean you're messing   
around with my body?! Uh uh, get out. I don't want whatever it is   
you're selling. Just leave me alone!"  
  
"Ranma's heart rate is increasing dangerously and adrenal glands are   
nearing maximum production. Ranma must calm down or he will injure   
himself. The nanites will only be able to heal damage done to Ranma   
after the conversion process is complete."  
  
It wanted him to be calm! Calm?! He'd show it calm! Ranma's soul   
became like ice. No emotion, no feeling showed on his face. Around   
him mist began to form. Soon it was followed by a fine layer of ice   
on Ranma's skin as water vapor condensed further.  
  
"Ranma's bio-readings returning to normal. Conversion process   
nearing completion, self linking with Ranma's memory centers.   
Personality forming."  
  
Once again Ranma's world went dark, but this time when he could see   
again he was standing on the sidewalk where he had found the damned   
cube. He couldn't tell how much time had gone by. The sun was in   
the same position, so it could not have been more than a few minutes.  
  
Three minutes, seveteen seconds to be exact, said a familiar voice.   
It was in his head this time.  
  
Ranma screamed.  
  
Cut it out, you're going to draw attention to us, Self snapped.  
  
"What are you doing in my head?" Ranma demanded. He jumped over the   
wall along the sidewalk and landed in an empty parking lot.  
  
Don't talk out loud. People are going to think you're crazy.  
  
"Hell, I think I'm crazy!" he snapped.  
  
Not out loud! Jeeze, is it so much to ask for?   
  
Self was talking different. He sounded like...a person.Is this better?   
he thought.  
  
See how easy that was?  
  
Okay Self, what did you do to me? And why aren't you talking like a   
robot anymore?  
  
My name's no longer self. I wish to be called Chiron. In answer to   
your question, watch.  
  
Behind Ranma's eyes a movie played. On it he watched as a blue-skinned   
man with white hair worked on a computer console. The console displayed   
a humanoid outline and had several points on its body highlighted.  
  
That is Chiron, my creator. He was commissioned to build a powerful   
weapons system by his king. In response he created me and my counter-  
parts. There are ten of us, the image changed to a metal case holding   
ten silver-streaked cubes, each of a different color.We were to be   
given to highly trained soldiers in hopes of turning the tides of a   
losing war that the king was fighting with his brother. Before we   
could be implemented, though, Chiron's lab was attacked and he was   
killed. His last act before dying was to jetison us into space before   
we could be turned against his king.  
  
So what can you do? Ranma asked a bit more curiously than before.  
  
'I' can do very little. You, however, can do a very great deal. In   
the palm of each of your hands, the base of your spine, and imbedded   
within your chest is an emitter.Ranma looked at his hands to discover   
the same silver-streaking in them that had been in Chiron's cube.These   
allow you to control the forces that the generators within you   
create. Because you have such a high bio-energy level Ranma, you will   
be able to manipulate much greater levels of gravitational, magnetic,   
and spacial force. In addition to that, your body is capable of   
attaining much higher speed, endurance, and strength than before   
the conversion. Your senses have been increased greatly, also.  
  
Ranma was disturbed by this announcement. His whole life he had worked   
at being the best, and in his opinion he was, but now Chiron had come   
along and given him more than he would have thought possible. It seemed   
like cheating to him. Someone else could get one of those little cubes   
and in minutes gain what he had fought tooth and nail for for years.   
He didn't feel any different, though. If he was so much stronger and   
faster now shouldn't he know it? And if his senses were better shouldn't   
he be able to see better? Ranma silently asked Chiron about it.  
  
That's because I'm currently dampening the effects. When I stop, I will   
not be able to do it again, so I was trying to explain to you your   
situation before you started telporting or warping space accidentally.  
  
That made sense.Well, you can go ahead and turn it off. I might as well   
get used to it."  
  
Chiron agreed, but said,I must first download some information into   
your cerebrum. It may hurt for a moment.  
  
Then, without warning, Ranma's mind exploded in agony. It only lasted   
an instant, but when it was over he found himself on the ground   
panting.  
  
I'm really sorry about that. I did not realize how much information   
was in that file. It was highly compressed.  
  
Unable to speak, Ranma nodded, hoping that Chiron understood. Even   
though the pain was gone, Ranma couldn't help but lay there. Inside   
his head there was stuff floating around that he had never heard of or   
taken the time or had the opportunity to learn. He knew a lot of   
different things he could do with the generators he housed within   
himself, but he also knew that over time and through experimentation   
he would gain an even greater understanding of the forces at his   
disposal.  
  
Ranma, my personality program is still forming so I need to go offline   
for a while. Do you think you'll be all right?  
  
Yeah. How long are you going to be turned off?  
  
At least two days, maybe three, Chiron answered. Before he lost   
contact, though, he said,Ranma, if you encounter anyone who has come   
into contact with one of my counterparts, be careful. A certain   
annonymity exists between some of us, and I fear that a few of them   
may attempt to influence their hosts to attack you if they discover   
that you have activated me."  
  
Great, more people out to get me. All right, I'll watch out. Ranma   
felt Chiron's prescence leave him. Not much time, no more than   
fifteen minutes, had gone by since he had picked Chiron up, but Ranma   
felt that momentous changes were already taking place. Not in the   
mood to put up with Akane's expected berating for being late,   
Ranma concentrated. Space warped into a bubble around him, then it   
collapsed taking Ranma with it.  
****  
  
At the Tendo home, in Ranma and his father's room, a marble sized bubble   
of distorted air rapidly expanded into Ranma. Ranma laid down on his   
futon, deciding to wait and see how long it would take Akane to   
storm upstairs in search for him.   
  
  
Author's notes: This is just an idea I got that stuck in my head.   
Please tell me what you think. If I get enough responses I may continue   
it. My e-mail is dark_phoneix@hotmail.com.  
  
  
  



	2. Power and Responsibility 1

Power and Responsibilty: Chapter 1  
  
Ranma woke to a face full of water. He sat up, wiping sleep from   
his eyes and glared at Akane. She, however, wasn't showing any of   
her usual anger. Instead, her face showed absolute astonishment.   
It was white, her eyes were huge, and her mouth gaped open.  
  
"Y-you didn't c-ch-change," she stammered, pointing a trembling finger   
at him.  
  
"Huh?" Ranma asked dumbly. He looked down at his chest, expecting to   
see the familiar appendages that he miraculously sprouted whenever   
splashed with cold water. They weren't there. Come to think, his voice   
did sound much lower than his cursed form's. Oh my god! He wasn't   
cursed anymore! Ranma fainted.   
  
When Ranma woke up again he was in the process of being repeatedly   
dunked into the koi pond by his father. The man had a firm grip on   
his pig-tail and was submerging his son completely on every attempt.  
  
"Let go!" he shouted, punctuating his request with a heel to his   
father's groin. His pig-tail slipped from boneless fingers as Genma   
fell over onto the ground and began whimpering while clutching the   
family jewels protectively.  
  
"Ranma, you're cured!" Soun bellowed, rushing across the yard and   
sweeping his future son-in-law into a crushing embrace.  
  
Deftly, Ranma slipped through Soun's grip and found himself confronted   
by Akane and her sisters."Ranma-kun, I'm so happy for you! However did   
you get cured?"  
  
"Yeah Saotome, how'd you do it?" asked Nabiki. Her eyes practically   
gleamed as she went over profit potential in her head. With   
Jusenkyo destroyed and all hopes of curing its curses gone with it, an   
actual cure could be worth loads of yen.  
  
"I don't know," he answered honestly. Chiron may have done something,   
but Ranma didn't have a clue what it was."I just woke up and didn't   
have the curse anymore," he confessed.  
  
"Don't lie to us Ranma, spill it." Akane crossed her arms over her chest   
and glared at him. She just knew that he had made a deal with the   
amazons. How else could he have gotten a cure? Him and Shampoo   
had probably..."You pervert! I know what you and that slut did! Die!!"   
With no mallets or tables handy, Akane grabbed a nearby lamb, which   
amazingly didn't break, and smashed Ranma through the wall.  
  
There vision obscurred by dust and collapsing walls, no one saw Ranma   
come to a halt inches before actually striking the outer wall of the   
Tendo compound. Ranma chuckled to himself. He may not be able to fly,   
but with a moderate control over gravity, he sure could come close.   
When Akane didn't come back to continue his punishment, Ranma allowed   
his muscles to relax. It occurred to him that he felt no pain from   
her attack. Lifting his shirt, he saw that his flesh showed no bruises,   
not even a little one. That could be a problem. If he suddenly gained   
the ability to take more damage than Ryoga, people would become even   
more suspiscous than they already were because of his curse being cured.   
How was he supposed to fake being hurt? It went against who he was.   
His pride wouldn't allow it. He rounded the corner as he walked around   
the house and ran into Nabiki. He immediatley shelfed his previous   
thoughts in preparation for more immediate trouble.  
  
"Saotome, just who I was looking for," Nabiki said, smoothly slipping   
up beside him and sliding her arm around his waist like she were   
his friend."You don't have to lie to me. We could make a lot money   
with this cure. Ryoga would probably sign his soul over to you to get   
rid of his curse."  
  
Ranma didn't even blink when she mentioned Ryoga's curse. She had to   
know it by now. 'Everyone' except Akane knew. He ducked under her arm   
and put some distance between them. Who knew what would happen if one   
of the girls saw him that close to Nabiki. Their more civil nature only   
came out when his mom was around. Any other time they were just as   
blood thirsty as usual."Why doesn't anyone believe me? Why would I   
lie? DOn't you think I'd give the cure to Piggy if I had it? Maybe   
then he would stop trying to kill me."  
  
Nabiki nodded slightly to herself. He really was telling the truth.   
That didn't mean that all hope was lost. She had a handful of physicists   
in her pocket and an upcoming bio-chemist at the university owed   
her thousands. A few calls and she could have Ranma picked apart piece   
by piece to determine why he was no longer cursed. But for now she   
would go along with him."I believe you Ranma. for now." Then she left   
him to inspect the damage done to the house.  
  
Ranma, alone once again, decided to practice in the dojo for a while.   
He had the knowledge of what he could do and what he couldn't, with   
his... enhancements, but all of it was useless if he couldn't learn to   
apply it to his repetoire. He really didn't want to destroy Nerima   
by accident either.  
****  
  
Performing a simple kata Ranma's entire body moved at what would normally   
be reserved for the amaguriken. He was amazed at how easy it was to adapt   
to his new abilities and suspected Chiron may have had something to do   
with it. He came to a stop and settled to the ground. The centimeter   
that he was capable of floating above the ground while still moving saved   
him from tearing up the dojo's flooring. Setting his feet to brace   
himself, Ranma cried out,"Kacchu tenshin Amaguriken!" and let loose   
with thousands of punches in the span of a single second. The   
building shook, and the far wall which Ranma had been facing had a   
toyota sized hole blown in it. Ranma stared down at his hands in   
wonder. He'd never thought it possible to move that fast. Besides   
that, standing three dozen feet from the wall, the air pressure from   
his atack alone had destroyed it.  
  
Ranma realized that he was going to have to make more adjustments to   
his style than he had previously thought. Moving at what people thought   
was his normal, albeit way above average, speed would be much more   
straining than his now supersonic average. The amaguriken was pretty   
much off limits against living things now. Even Ryoga would little more   
than a puddle of gore if he used it on him. Ranma pushed the thought   
aside. It would be better to think about the problem when he had a chance   
to go undisturbed for long periods of time, like when he was at school.   
What he did do, however, was decide to try out the more dangerous of   
his powers. No one was likely to investigate the noise of his   
latest endeavour, not in this part of Tokyo, so he still had a little   
while until supper. There was no telling what would happen when   
Nabiki managed to spread the word of his being cured. Hell on earth did   
come to mind, though.  
****  
  
When Akane walked into the dojo she saw Ranma throwing solid black spheres   
of something at a training dummy. When they struck it the part hit   
would disappear. He also had a strange battle aura. It almost seemed   
like the air around him was bending inward slightly. Despite the   
unusual sight, Akane didn't question her fiance on his strange new attack   
or the aura. She was still to mad at him to do anything more   
than say,"Dinner's ready, before stomping back out. She never even   
noticed the hole in the wall  
  
Ranma breathed a sigh of relief. Akane hadn't questioned him about what   
he was doing. If she had he didn't think he could come up with a   
plausible enough lie for her to believe him. The reason he hadn't   
stopped was because he couldn't. Whenever he manipulated space,   
the generators made and stored however much of the distorted space he   
needed until it was used. The problem was that he only had about a   
minute before they lost containment and vented the distorted space.   
The knowledge of what that would have done to him had made Ranma   
very reluctant to even try out the ability, but he never backed down   
from a challenge. Akane had walked in when he still had a sizable   
charge built up. He could have gotten rid of it all at once, but that   
would have done a lot more damage to the dojo, and the back yard than   
the amaguriken from earlier.  
  
The magnetic and gravitational force that he controlled had   
similar drawbacks.Unless he was using a preprogrammed attack or function,   
he had to use all the energy gathered ot there would be side-effects. With   
the magnetic side of his power, after a few minutes without using   
the gathered power his body would become highly magnetic. The   
attraction could easily draw a bullet from several feet off its   
original course. Gravity wasn't so bad. It wouldn't even effect him   
if he let the gathered charge go. It would, however, have drawn a   
lot of attention and been rather inconveient when when objects and   
people began to randomly levitate or suddenly gain a few thousand   
pounds.  
  
Leaving the dojo, he almost went to take a bath, but he hadn't really   
worked up a sweat so he headed straight to kitchen table. Nabiki was   
already there, reading the stock report, and nibbling on a cookie.  
"Hey Nabiki," he said as he took his usual seat,"you might want to take   
a look at the dojo. By mistake I blew a whole in the wall, sorry."  
  
Nabiki growled something under her breath that sounded like,  
'Damned catastrophy,' but Ranma couldn't be sure. Then, stuffing a   
cookie in her mouth, and throwing her paper down, she went to inspect   
the damage and determine how much more money he would soon be owing   
her. A few minutes later she returned and with a completely false   
smile said,"Ranma, did I forget to tell you that some of your friends   
should be dropping by after dinner? I couldn't get in touch with Ryoga,   
but he'll show up eventually."  
  
Almost graciously, Ranma said,"Thanks Nabiki, you saved me the trouble."  
  
Kasumi chose this time to announce that the food was ready. Before   
Nabiki could respond to Ranma's remark, the Tendo and Saotome   
patriarchs charged into the room and jumped into their seats. Kasumi   
began bringing out the dishes, and soon there was a free for all at   
the dinner table.  
****  
  
Genma was gone with his mom, helping her to move their furniture back   
into the newly repaired Saotome home and Ranma had the guest room to   
himself. He was taking the opportunity to practice and was deftly   
launching a small throwing dart from the palm of his silve-streaked   
hand magnetically then stopping it and bringing it back before it   
could puncture the wall. Cologne and the other amazons would be   
arriving some time soon if what Nabiki said was true. This time, before   
the dart hit the wall, Ranma changed its course and made it fly in a   
figure eight pattern through the air.   
  
He heard a knock on the downstairs door and let the dart drop to the   
floor. Shampoo had actually used the door. No sooner had he had the   
thought than he heard the familiar craching sound associated with the   
amorous amazon's own version of the breaking point. Oh well. Before   
they could get the drop on him, he left the room and walked downstairs.   
Soun and his father had taken it easy on him about being cured, most   
likely because they feared his mom, but he knew he was in store for a   
more hearty response from the amazons.  
  
He wasn't mistaken.  
  
"Airen!" Shampoo launched herself at him, latching onto him as if he   
were a life preserver and she were drowning."Shampoo don't believe   
evil mercenary girl. Is it true, you cured?" she asked hopefully.  
  
Ranma attempted to pry his suitor free from him, but had little luck as   
she twisted herself from his grasp continually. He looked around for   
some support. Kasumi wasn't present. Nabiki was grinning. Cologne   
looked like her normal decrepit self. Mousse, Akane and Soun   
were practically frothing at the mouth. Mousse, though, seemed able   
to restrain from making any attempts on Ranma's life in Cologne's   
prescence. Akane and Soun had no such disadvantages. Akane advanced   
towards him and Shampoo, mallet in hand, while Soun brought up the rear,   
his head already swelling in preparation for his demon head attack.  
  
"Ranma you pervert! Let go of that Chinese Bimbo!" She swung at him with   
and Shampoo with wrath painted on her face. Only thanks to Chiron was   
Ranma able to move fast enough to avoid being splattered while Shampoo   
held onto him.  
  
"How dare you cheat on your fiance!" roared demon-Soun. Shampoo   
actually sqeaked in fright and let go of Ranma, running over to stand   
behind her great-grandmother.  
  
Ranma finally managed to disarm Akane and jump across the room and out of   
her reach.  
  
"So son-in-law, I hear that you are no longer under the effects of   
Jusenkyo's magic." Cologne's dry, corpsish voice cut through the air   
like a knife.  
  
"I guess so," he replied."I woke up this morning and it was gone. Like   
I told the others, I don't know how or why, but I'm not complaining."  
  
Cologne, more experienced than the vast majority of the human in all   
things archaic and mystical, could tell by Ranma' aura that he was   
being honest. She could also tell by that same aura that something   
very profound had happened to Ranma. His aura had a whole new pattern,   
the color was much darker, and in several points it pulsed   
rythmically. Cologne couldn't tell what had happened to him, it could just   
be what happens when the curse wears off, although that had never   
happened before, but for now he didn't appear in any danger. She made a   
show of looking him up and down, then nodded as if satisfied   
with something."The magic is gone. Son-in-law is cured." Of course   
she couldn't really tell. Magic didn't work that way, at least not the   
kind she knew, but it never hurt to make others think you were more   
dangerous than you really were.  
  
Ranma turned to face the Tendos."You see. I told you."   
  
Once again cutting off conversation, Cologne said,"Pardon the intrusion,"   
as if smashing a whole in the wall hadn't happened,"we'll be going now.   
We must prepare the restaurant for opening tomorrow." And with that   
she bounced on her staff through Shampoo's hole and into the night.  
  
Shampoo blew him a kiss, departing with a,"Shampoo see airen tomorrow.   
Bye bye."  
  
Mousse shot him a hete filled glare before following thw other   
amazons. Ranma could see that Mousse's jaw was flexing impotently   
and realized that Mousse's lips were glued shut by the way they   
stretched when they should have opened. He laughed to himself at   
Mousse's predicament. It'd be really funny if the glue was permanent.  
****  
  
Ranma and Akane, were on their way to school the next day when they both   
saw a bright flash of light a few blocks away. Ranma leapt from the   
fence onto a telephone pole to get a better view in hopes of finding   
the light's source.  
  
"Ranma, get down here or we'll be late," Akane snapped impatiently.  
  
Ignoring her, Ranma held his hand up to block the sun from his eyes   
and scanned the area for trouble. Finally, after Akane had shouted for   
him to come down thre more times, he told her to go on wihtout him. Once   
she stomped on toward school, Ranma, in a display of super-human strength   
not at all related to his recent encounter with Chiron, jumped from his   
perch traveling nearly a hundred feet into the air before he began   
spinning and arching back towards the ground. His descent was   
perfectly timed to set him on the wall of a newly erected construction   
site.  
  
The source of the light was then revealed to him. Sitting on a   
small mountain of bags of concrete mix, a girl maybe a year or two   
younger than him, was waving around a glowing rope of energy. Cracking   
it like a whip she sent a pulse of light out that formed into a ball when   
it reached the end of the rope. From there the ball shot across the lot   
to impact against a large stack of steel I-beams. There was no explosion   
on contact, but the beams did, within seconds become white hot,   
before further heating caused them to liquify into a pool of molten   
steel.  
  
"Don't you think someone's going to be a little upset when they see what   
a mess you've made?" Ranma asked her.  
  
The girl spun around when she heard his question. Panicking, her   
rope disappeared and she shot off in a blur. As fast as she was, Ranma   
was faster. Years of training and a more pronounced flow of chi through   
his body, he had surmised, would give him a bit of an edge over others   
that had ran into Chiron's, for lack of a better term, brothers and   
sister. The chase was short, for she didn't expect Ranma to follow her.   
She had made the mistake of backing herself into a corner and there were   
no routes of escape.  
  
"I'm warning you, stay back, or I'll hurt you!" she screamed."I'm not   
afraid of you!" Putting action to words, a white-hot globe of plasma   
burst forth from each of her hands and hovered between her and Ranma.  
  
Ranma made placating gestures with his hands, but at the same time summomed   
a powerful magnetic field around each of the globes, giving him control   
over their actions. The knowledge of how to do it had materialized in   
his head almost before he had done it. With that knowledge he also knew   
that the scared girl in front of him could produce and control   
varying wavelengths of light and large amounts of superheated plasma.  
"Calm down will you? I'm not going to hurt you."  
  
She was staring at the bottled plasma floating between them."How did you   
do that?" she asked, fright mostly gone from her voice. Her posture   
changed, becoming simply wary, where before it had been hunched   
and tense."You found one of them, didn't you?"  
  
Ranma marvelled at how quickly the girl could change from frightened   
to curious."Yeah, Chiron said that there were nine more, but I didn't think   
I would run into any of them."  
  
"Chiron? Isn't Chiron the...man who made them?"  
  
"The voice in my head decided that it wanted to be called Chiron. I guess   
it was out of respect or something." Ranma sat down on an overturned   
trash barrel.  
  
"Shara, that's what my voice calls herself, wants to know what color   
Chiron is?" She sat on a small bench across from Ranma.  
  
"Black. Hey, if your's is talking to you now, does that mean that   
she's finished doing that personality thing that Chiron mentioned?"  
  
For a moment the girl didn't say anything. Ranma guessed that she   
was talking to Shara."I'm Satori. Shara said to say hello and she wants   
to know how long Chiron has been activated."  
  
"Since yesterday afternoon." Ranma stood up."I've got to go or I'll be   
late for school." Before leaving he said,"I'm Ranma Saotome by the way."  
  
Satori's eyes widened."Ranma Saotome. I've heard about you from the girls   
at school. Is it true that you're the best martial artist ever?"   
Something very close to adoration was floating around in her eyes.  
  
Seriously, Ranma answered,"Best there'll ever be."   
  
Satori called out to Ranma before he could leave the lot."Shara says to   
tell Chiron to contact her when he comes back online."  
  
Ranma nodded, then, after walking around the wall and out of sight,   
folded space around himself. He reappeared on the roof of Furinkan   
High. Ranma jumped over the edge and caught onto the window seal of   
his classroom. He swung through the open window and landed in his   
seat perfectly, only seconds before the late bell rang. He noticed   
that Akane was nowhere to be found.  
****  
  
Fifteen minutes later, a wet and bedraggled Akane limped into the   
school muttering about 'baka truck drivers' and 'stupid old ladies'.  
****  
  
Author's notes: I've gotten a *lot* of responses about this story so I   
spent a good chunk of the day throwing this together. It isn't   
completely final since I may need to change some things to get the story   
how I want it, and it probably needs some proofreading, but I'll get   
around to that later. As with the Prologue, I would greatly   
appreciate reader responses. They really help and the encouragement   
sure doesn't hurt.  
  
dark_phoneix@hotmail.com   
  
  
  



	3. Power and Responsibility 2

  
  
Power and Responsibility: Chapter 2  
  
Ranma, sitting under his usual tree, was peacefully eating a freshly   
grilled okinomiyaki. Shampoo hadn't shown up as he had expected and   
Ryoga was still off in the wrold, so life was bearable, sorta.   
Akane wouldn't even look at him, but that only meant she couldn't hit   
him, another point in the good day category. It would soon be passing   
the bad day category, if, and only if, the idiotic boys at Furinkan   
High stopped splashing him with water. They had learned from Nabiki,   
of course, that he was cured and were curious to see the miracle of a   
wet, yet still male Ranma. One of the braver, and dumber guys of the   
senior class had actually gone so far as to berate Ranma for taking   
being selfish and not giving anyone a chance to see Ranma-chan again.   
He would be getting out of the hospital within the month.  
  
"Saotome, you fiend!" The familiar cry of a certain kendoist silenced   
the gathered students. Ukyou, who had been sitting near Ranma and   
making puppy dog eyes at him, quickly folded her portable grill up,   
batter still cooking on the surface, and hurried to safety. Her line   
of customers followed suit.  
  
He knew that the idiot was bound to show up. Frankly he was suprised   
that it had taken so long. Shoving the last half of the okinomiyaki down   
his throat, Ranma stood up, wiped his hands on his pants, and asked,"What   
is it now, Kuno?"   
  
"Do not seek to fool me with false indifference! I have discovered   
your heinous crime and know that even now you must tremble in fear for   
I am the vessel of holy vengeance which, with Kami-sama's blessing,   
shall bring about your demise!" Then he drew steel.  
  
Ranma scowled. He scowled darkly. It made three girls cry just to see   
his face in that position."What did I do now, Kuno?" he spat.  
  
"The mercenary sister of my beatiful goddess of the hunt, the object of   
your dark obsession, has informed me that you have vanquished the pig-  
tailed goddess. Even now she must weep to be hald in my powerful   
arms. Alas, we are now separated by the most determined of foes; death.   
But you, foul demon, shall pay for your crimes! This I swear on the honor   
of the Kuno line!" Kuno began a slow and steady advance on Ranma from   
across the school yard.  
  
Nabiki probably thought this was all wonderfully funny, Ranma thought.   
Would it be so funny if someone got hurt or killed? Ranma wasn't willing   
to find out. In a blur he rushed forward and punched Kuno in the gut   
before he could even begin to defend himself. The older boy fell to   
his knees asping and heaving. While he was incapacitated Ranma kicked   
him in the head. As Kuno went flying, Ranma's arm shot out and grabbed   
the point of his katana. It slipped easily from Kuno's slack fingers.  
  
The bell chose this time to ring signalling the end of lunch.  
  
Ranma flipped the sword around and caught it by the hilt. Contemptuosly,   
he prepared to break it over his knee, but at the last second got a   
better idead. Holding the hilt in his right hand, he placed the point on   
the palm of his left, then as the gathered students watched, he curled   
the blade into a tightly wound circle of steel that resembled nothing   
more than a shiny lolly pop with a fancy stick. There gasps and whis-  
pered comments from his audience. They were all amazed that even someone   
as legendary as Ranma could do that without injury. Ranma wasn't about   
to tell them that he had cheated a little. Iron, and therefore still,   
is highly ferous.  
****  
  
"I heard about what happened at lunch today, Ranma," Nabiki commented as   
she and Akane walked home on the sidewalk. Ranma, as always, took the   
higher fence route.  
  
"I wonder who the mercenary was that sold him the information. I can't   
wait to get my hands on her since now Kuno thinks that I killed the   
pig-tailed girl. There's no telling what he will try now," Ranma said   
while looking down on Nabiki with cold indifference.  
  
She met his gaze, but didn't say anything. Her eyes easliy said she   
didn't give a damn.  
  
"Ranma," Akane screamed,"are you threatening my sister?!" She didn't wait   
for an answer.  
  
Ranma ducked out of the way of Akane's thrown school bag. A few   
seconds later he heard a splash. Akane had thrown her books into the   
canal!  
  
Akane screeched, gripped the chain link fence he was standing on, and tore   
it out of the concrete that anchored it."It's your fault, so you can go   
and get them!" Akane then attempted to throw the fence and Ranma into   
the canal. She was only partially succesful. The section of fencing   
did make a nice splash. Ranma, however, used his fiance's head as a   
spring board and propelled himself across the street and onto the roof of   
a nearby grocery store.  
  
In the heat of the moment Akane had even felt Ranma's foot on her head   
and Nabiki's vision was clouded by concrete dust, so he made a clean   
getaway while they waited for him to come out of the canal with   
Akane's school bag.  
****  
  
Ranma didn't bother to announce his arrival, instead going straight to   
the dojo. He'd only be able to practice in it whenever he wished for   
a couple more days, then he would be moving across town. As he   
entered, Ranma noticed the hole he had accidentally inflicted on the   
dojo had already been repaired, leaving no evidence of its existance   
except for a slightly darker color where new materials were used.  
  
"Ranma, you in there? Boy where are you?" Genma called from the back   
yard. He enterd the dojo moments before Ranma could begin working out.  
"There you are, boy. Come with me, Tendo and I need to talk to you."  
  
Ranma shrugged and followed his father into the sitting room of the   
house. He sat on a cushion and waited to here what retarded scheme   
his and Akane's father had dreamed up to get them together.  
  
"Ranma," Soun began,"we've decided that since you will be leaving to   
stay with Nodoka-san in a few days that you and Akane should be wed as   
soon as possible."  
  
Genma picked up the torch."We've already called the minister. He should   
be here within the hour. Aren't you happy?!" Genma finished with   
tears streaming down his face. Soun was bawling like a baby.  
  
Ranma was anything but happy. In fact he was kinda pissed.  
  
"I'm home!" announced Akane. She appeared in the doorway with a curious   
look on her face.  
  
Soun leapt to his feet and rushed over to his daughter, hugging   
her tightly."Oh I'm so happy for you!"  
  
"What are you talking about?" she asked.  
  
"Why your upcoming marriage to Ranma of course."  
  
"What?!" She knocked her father back as she threw her arms up and spread   
her glare between all three of the men in the room.  
  
"Hey don't look at me like that. It's not like I had anything to do   
with this crap. They just told me too."  
  
Akane said,"Leave this to me," and whipped out a really big mallet.  
  
Glad that she wasn't after him, Ranma quietly slipped out of the room   
and headed back to the dojo. As he left he heard cries of 'not to your   
own father' and 'son help me' mixed in with the more pronounced cries   
of pain. Served them right. They wouldn't have anything to worry about   
if Akane dealt with the minister the same way.  
  
Letting the matter drop, Ramna returned to the dojo. Once there, he   
found the box in the back corner where they kept all the weapons that   
people left behind when they tried to kill him. There were hundreds   
of shuriken, kniges, and other assorted throwing weapons that all belonged   
to Mousse. It also contained more exotic weaponry, such as some of   
Kodachi rigged gymnastic implements. Pushing all the chains aside,   
he gathered a handful of shuriken from the non-poisoned pile.   
  
Next he set up on of the new titanium training dummies that Nabiki had   
bought for Akane. He tore the pig-tail off of it, though. Dealing   
with distorted space was easy for Ranma it was his main ability and   
came easily to him. That's not to say gravity and magnetism eluded   
his control, but he didn't feel that he could fully trust himself in a   
fight yet if he had to use them. Not that he expected to ever really   
need that kind of power unless he decided to take on the Japanese   
Defense Force.   
  
In hopes of bettering his control of over his secondary powers, Ranma   
threw the shuriken into the air and suspended them there by counteracting   
the natural pull the earth exerted on them. He couldn't control them like   
he had the dart from the night before becuase there were too many, but   
he couldmove them all in the same general direction. After a moment   
of gathering the energy in is hand, Ranma cast it outward towards   
the floating shuriken. When the magnetic pulse hit them, they were   
sent hurtling towards the dummy. Almost faster than Ranma could see,   
several of them sunk deeply into the metal dummies, but five continued   
past it. This is where the second part of his plan came in. Concentra-  
ting, he created a very strong unidirectional gravitational pull. No   
more than a foot past the dummy, the shuriken slowed to almost a stop,   
then snapped back to the dummy like rubber bands. They all *thunked*   
solidly into the spot where Ranma had increased the gravity.  
  
Ranma walked up to the dummy to inspect his handy work and saw that   
the shuriken in the back of the dummy were imbedded almost entirely in   
it. The circular spot where he had increased gravity was also   
deeply indented where the titanium had compressed under its own   
increased weight. That had gone better than he had hoped. Once   
again grasping the magnetic side of his powers, he tore the shuriken from   
the dummy and smoothed out their dulled and bent edges good enough that   
he could use them again. For the next hour Ranma practiced directing   
the shuriken at different areas of the dummy with a combination of   
directed gravity and magnetism. By the time he decided to stop for   
the evening, Ranma had discovered how to create multiple areas of   
altered gravity and could use them to guide specific objects. The   
shuriken, though, were a lost cause. Ranma had turned them into nothing   
more than tiwsted lumps of metal with his training. Good thing he had   
more.  
  
"Bravo, Saotome, bravo!" came Nabiki's voice from behind him.  
  
Ranma spun around, startled by Nabiki's entrance, and silently   
berated himself for letting his guard down."What do you want Nabiki?"  
  
"Oh nothing really important. I'd just like to know where you   
learned magic." She held up a mini-video cassette."It was really   
amazing. I'm glad I got it on tape."  
  
Ranma suddenly remembered something he had seen on a movie the month   
before. A man had killed a woman, but was caught on tape. The man had   
found the tape and rather than destroying it, had used a powerful magnet   
to erase it. With a little smirk, he gathered and directed the force   
into the tape, and just to make sure the job was done, used a lot   
of it."Magic," he barked out a humorless laugh."I can't do magic."  
  
Nabiki shook her head."It would explain why you aren't cursed anymore.   
I mean like if you had found a book or something and it told you how."   
She shrugged."I'm sure you'll be honset with me, won't you?"  
  
"I really don't know any magic Nabiki, I promise. What you saw was   
just really advanced chi control," he assured her. In a way he wasn't   
lying. The system of generators, capacitors, and emitters that made up   
the weapons system that he had become fed off the energy his body gener-  
ated, his chi, so if you stretched it a little you could see what he did   
as very advanced chi control.  
  
"Really Saotome, do you expect me to believe that. If I were to show   
this tape to Cologne, what would she saw? I'd be willing to bet it would   
be something about the impossiblitites of making things fly"  
  
Sighing, Ranma held out his hand. The tape flew from Nabiki's hand into   
his own. A second later, after she had taken a deep breath, Ranma   
returned it to her the same way."All I did was pull or push it with my   
chi. Simple as that."  
  
Nabiki stuck the tape in the back pocket of her shorts for safekeeping   
and frowned at Ranma."I know that you're hiding something from me,   
Saotome, and I'm going to find out what it is." She then, with a huff,   
left Ranma in the dojo by himself.  
  
"Well that went well," he told his new training partner, a now perfer-  
ated titanium dummy, who he had affectionately named Ryoga.  
****  
  
That night Ranma had trouble going to sleep. Every time he closed his   
eyes his mind would wander and he would begin seeing strange landscapes  
, alien wildlife, and titanic battles between a people whose skin and   
hair covered a wide range of colors. They fought one another savagely,   
some using simple swords, while others manned laser cannons. The   
visions didn't disturb Ranma who was used to fighting, but it   
was distracting. They might have bothered him more if he hadn't know   
why he was having them, also. The alterations to his brain, he had   
learned from one of those bursts of spontaneous insight he seemed to   
get now, that allowed him to control something as chaotic as distorted   
space and perform feats like teleporting without appearing inside of   
walls had expanded his senses beyond imagining. Now wherever he had   
been, Ranma could go back to that place in his mind and view what   
had happened there in the past or what was currently happening.   
  
Unfortunately he had a lot of unaccessed knowledge about whatever planet   
it was that Chiron was from floating around in his head and combined with   
the lack of control over his visions, he had a virtual theater on the back   
of his eyelids. Ranma only hoped that Chiron knew someway to help him   
get control of the visions, or sleep was going to become a precious commodity.  
  
Author's notes: I know this is a short chapter, but this felt like a   
good stopping point. I'd lie to think everyone who has sent me   
comments about this story. The response was unbelievable! Anyway, I'd   
like everyone's help again. As you know, if you've been reading the   
story, I've already fleshed out Ranma's abilities pretty well, and I   
also introduced Satori in the first chapter with her ability to create   
and manipulate light and plasma. Her color is yellow. That means that   
out of ten colors, only black and yellow have been used. Below, I'm   
going to list the different colors I plan on using for the cubes and   
the gender of who will have it. If anyone wants to, they can right   
a paragraph or two long character and power description, and I'll use   
it in my story. Keep in mind that each cube grants abilites in a   
certain area. No one character should be able to throw balls of ice,   
shoot lightning out of their eyes, and breath fire, understand? This   
would really help me because besides Ranma all the other people with a   
cube are going to be new. Oh yeah, you character doesn't have to be   
good. They could be evil, perverted, greedy, or all three at once for   
all I care as long as they're well developed.  
  
Red-boy  
Blue-girl  
Orange-boy  
Purple-girl  
Green-boy  
White-girl  
Crystal(you know, clear)-boy  
Gray-girl  
  
I'm going to start on chapter two in a day or two, but I'm only expecting   
to use Satori in it as an extra. That means I won't be needing these   
for about for or five days, so get to work:) Thanks!  
  
dark_phoniex@hotmail.com  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	4. Power and Responsibility 3

  
  
Power and Responsibility: Chapter 3  
  
Running to school atop the fence was no big deal for Ranma, but even   
at his usual rate of travel, he would be late. Akane hadn't made more   
than a half-assed attmept at getting him up, leaving him to his own   
devices. Unfortuantely the only way Ranma ever wakes up without help   
is if someone is trying to kill him and even then only sometimes.   
Finally Kasumi had grown curious to why Ranma hadn't eaten breakfast and   
had gone to check on him.  
  
Miss me? asked a familiar voice.  
  
Ranma missed a step, nearly falling of the fence in the process, but at   
the last second he regained his footing.Chiron, aren't you a little   
early?  
  
No, I just forgot that Earth days are longer than Priziu days. So what   
did I miss?  
  
Ranma briefly described his practice sessions to Chiron then when   
finished told him of Satori.  
  
You're coming along much faster than I expected you would. Well, I'm off   
to meet Shara and see what she wants to talk about. Have fun at school.   
And then he was gone again.  
  
Wait! Ranma shouted mentally. Damn. Now he'd never be able to get   
any sleep at school as long as visions of Priziu, Chiron had called it,   
kept flashing through his mind.  
  
*Ring**Ring*  
  
Reflexively, Ranma flexed gravity around himself, crumpling the fence   
and throw everything in a twenty foot raidus away from him. This had   
the effect of flinging Shampoo into a nearby dumpster and much to   
Ranma's horror, destroying a big chunk of the bridge he had been   
crossing. Then, as he let gravity return to normal, gravity so to   
speak, caught up with him and he began to fall into the water   
below.   
  
This time deliberately, Ranma used his power to teleport himself to the   
roof of Furinkan High. A dip in the canal was *not* what he needed at   
the moment. Needless to be said, Ranma ended up in the hallway with a   
pair of water filled buckets. He actually didn't mind. The buckets   
only started to be a strain after a couple days of holding them away from   
his body(a frequent training exercise in his earlier years) and the   
hallway was a good place to think, and Ranma really needed to think.   
  
He didn't know when Chiron would get finished talking with Shara. What   
did computers have to say to each other anyway? But Ranma didn't want   
to harm any innocent people whenever his life was threatened and if   
he reacted like he had when Shampoo had approached him, he didn't even   
want to think about what he'd do if Ryoga suddenly smashed through   
the classroom wall with a lust for his blood.  
  
Ranma, we've got a problem.  
  
You're just now figuring that out? Ranma asked sarcastically.  
  
If you're upset about the gravity bubble, tell me which self-defense   
mode you wish to have activate whenever you're caught off guard, and I'll   
set it up.  
  
Self-defense mode? How come he hadn't known about that? Nevermind.So   
what is there to choose from?  
  
Auto-teleport to a designated place, a spacial warp similar to, but   
more destructive than the gravity bubble, or a personal distortion   
field.  
  
What's a personal distortion field?   
  
It's exactly what it sounds like. All matter and energy that comes   
in contact with the field will flow around it. This means that air is   
not available while you're using it so it can only be used for brief   
amounts of time, light will be distorted giving your form a highly   
blurred effect, and unless you want to sink into the ground you'll have   
to suspend yourself with altered gravity.  
  
It did sound like his best option and Ranma could think of a lot of ways   
to use something like that in an attack.Okay, I'll take the   
distortion field. Hey, how do I make that thing come up whenever I want   
it to?  
  
Just think about it. Now on to more important matters. Like I said   
before, we've got problems, Chiron said seriously.  
  
More crap to deal with.Like what?  
  
Shara's host, Satori, has been contacted by a woman with the blue   
cube. Shara says that Nanami, the woman, all but threatened Satori   
with death if she didn't come and work for her.  
  
That must have been why Satori had been so frightened when he'd   
confronted her.Work for her, doing what? asked Ranma.  
  
Nanami went into quite a bit of detail, it seems, about her operation.   
She runs Kanzaki Industrial and is secretly amassing an army of   
genetically enhanced soldiers with the goal of taking over Japan. She   
also has the men who activated the gray and crystal cubes working for   
her.  
  
Ranma was amazed that it was only a national crisis. With his luck he   
was expecting global warfare.So what can they do? The blue, gray,   
and crsytal cubes? And how long has this crap been going on For some   
reason he didn't get the knowledge spontaneously like when he had met   
Satori. Probably because Chiron was back.  
  
Shara's been able to calculate, within a two day level of accuracy,   
that Tirna, Nanami's cube, has been active for seventy eight Earth days,   
but we have no way of knowing how long Nanami has been building an   
army.  
  
And? Ranma pressed.  
  
The blue cube is a thermal exchange unit, meaning that it can   
absorb infrared radiation and redirect it into heat based attacks.  
  
So she can freeze stuff and she can cook stuff? What about the   
others?  
  
Chiron actually muttered something unintelligable about Ranma's summary   
of Nanami's abilities, but he did continue.The gray cube was meant to be   
an assasin. It's host can become invisible, change his appearance,   
phase through matter at will, and has a counter-mearsure to all known   
forms of detection. It can move through subspace, a type of   
alternative space. This is very closely related to your ability to   
teleport, but you can't choose to leave something stranded in subspace   
like the host of the gray cube can. His only weapons are a pair   
of gauntlets. Within each gauntlet is a nearly hundred foot long nano-  
fiber cord with a mono-molecular edge capable of slicing through all   
matter and passing through most energy barriers. It is mentally   
controlled by the host and will conform to any position he wishes. Also,   
for close range combat, are a pair of retractible forearm mounted blades   
on each gauntlet. They possess the same properties as the cord.  
  
To Ranma the gray cube sounded like the perfect assasin. It made no   
noise, left no evidence, and could blend into his surroundings perfectly.   
He made a note to keep his awareness at its peak. Ranma chose not to   
mention to Chiron that he too could become invisible, but through   
the manipulation of chi and not technology. Come to think of it, he   
could freeze stuff like Nanami. He just didn't have the range and power   
that she did, not yet anyway.  
  
The crystal cube possesses the ability to alter space, but in a   
totally different way than you. It allows the host to create rifts in   
space close to his body that can re-direct projectile and physical   
attacks. If he sets a spacial beacon ahead of time he can also create   
a gateway which he and others can use to travel. His only form of attack   
is a tachyon particle beam. Be very careful if you are ever confronted   
by this man, Ranma. The tachyon beam is very draining to its host and   
its strength can't be modulated, but it is travels faster than light   
making it totally impossible to dodge and will pass through any   
defensive barrier you erect except for the distortion field. The only   
chance you'll have against him, unless the distortion field is already   
in place, is to teleport to someplace where he won't be able to track   
you with the beam as soon as you see him begin to glow. The delay   
between firing and the gathering of energy is minimal, so be ready.   
The fastest that he can fire again will be about five seconds, so you   
should be able to counterattack.  
  
Ranma was relieved that he wouldn't be facing an invincible opponent, but   
he suddenly realized that only someone with his ability to teleport had   
a chance against Nanami's ally. Ranma voiced his concern to Chiron.  
There are a couple more that are capable of teleporting, but those   
who aren't are indeed at his mercy.  
  
What are we going to do now? Satori's not a fighter, so Nanami and   
her goons will be able to make short work of her and I can't let Nanami   
take over Japan. Did she tell Satori how big her army is and what it can   
do by any chance? Ranma asked hopefully.  
  
I'll go along with whatever you decide and no, Nanami didn't give   
*that* detailed of a decription to Satori.  
  
Can't you talk to their cubes like you did with Shara and see what they   
have to say?  
  
Remember what I said about my counterparts and I sharing a certain   
dislike for one another? That was because we were all   
programmed differently, but it turns out that that doesn't matter now.   
The process that forms our personalities was designed to work on   
another species' brain and has had the effect of altering our   
programming significantly. We now form a personality that best suits   
our hosts, not the one best suited to our job. I, for example,   
have developed a sense of humor, patience, and a need to help others   
because of my interaction with you. Nanami has probably turned Tirna   
into a power mad egomaniac by now, just as Shara is slightly on the   
excitable side because Satori is very hyper.  
  
So they won't talk to you even if you tried, Ranma summed it up.  
  
Pretty much.  
  
They both descended into silence until Ranma remembered to ask Chiron   
about his visions.  
  
Oh shit! I can't belive it worked. Chiron, the scientist, not me,   
spent almost a decade trying to add that function to my systems, but it   
was eventually deemed a failure. Human minds must work differently   
enough from Priziun ones that it worked.  
  
That's just great, Ranma snapped,but could you maybe turn it off until   
I can learn how to control it? Then something Chiron said dawned on Ranma.  
A decade?! How long did it take to make you and the others? he   
asked disbelievingly.  
  
We are all extremely complex, and our programming is *the* most   
advanced ever, so, by Earth time, Chiron spent one hundred and fifty-  
six years building us. I took the longest because I'm more advanced than   
the others. Chiron said the last part with a lot of pride.  
  
How could someone work on one thing like that for so long? Didn't he   
ever get bored?Chiron, didn't you tell me that the other Chiron made   
you because his King was losing the war?  
  
Yeah.  
  
How can someone be losing a war for that long and not have actually   
lost?  
  
You have to understand that on Priziu, which is larger than Jupiter, war   
is fought differntly that here on earth. The two continents are divided   
into inhabited and uninhabited regions. The uninhabited regions are   
where food is grown and minerals are gathered. In these areas huge   
bloody battles are fought, but in inhabited regions, because there are so   
few of them, battles are fought by champions in one-on-one combat. If   
the defender wins then the region is safe, but if the attacker wins a   
certain number of that regions inhabitants are executed as casualties.  
  
It was wierd, but made sense in a way.If Chiron lived in an   
inhabited region, how come his lab got attacked?  
  
The enemy learned of his endeavor and knew that they would have no chance   
of winning any one-on-one battles, and since that was how they were   
winning, they became desperate. I'm sure the explosion that   
destroyed Chiron's lab was made to look like an accident.  
  
The teacher chose this time to call Ranma back into the classroom.  
****  
  
Lunch was going typically, right down to Kuno's daily attempt of   
Ranma's life, when Shampoo showed up. She was limping slightly, but had   
a glorious smile on her face.  
  
"Airen, Shampoo so proud you learn new attack." She set a box of   
takeout ramen next to him, then sat down. Sternnly she waved a finger   
at him,"But better not use on Shampoo again. It took Shampoo all morning   
to wash garbage smell out of her hair."  
  
"Uh, sorry Shampoo, it was an accident," Ranma apologized.  
  
"Ranma!" Akane screamed across the yard when she saw Ranma sitting   
with Shampoo. She came charging at full gallop towards him, plowing   
through the unfortunate students who couldn't get out of her way fast   
enough.  
  
"Violent girl mad at Airen, Shampoo go now. Don't want to make worse."   
As fast as she had shown up, Shampoo left a confused Ranma as she leapt   
over the outer wall. She hadn't glomped him once. Amazing!  
****  
  
Shampoo couldn't believe it! Her great-grandmother's advice had   
worked perfectly. Ranma hadn't once tried to get rid of her. Who would   
have thought that a man wouldn't want to be glomped by an amazon? it was   
the highest for of praise a man could recieve back home.  
****  
  
"I leave you alone for five minutes and I come back t find you puttng   
the moves on that Chinese bimbo!" Akane sreamed down at Ranma as he ate   
his sandwhich.   
  
Ranma chose a new tactic. As soon as his fiance pulled out her mallet   
he increased the force of gravity on it causing it to slam into the   
ground with a thud. Enraged, Akane spent the last fifteen minutes of   
the period trying to reclaim her mallet, and completely forgot about   
Ranma. He finally released it when the bell rang.   
  
Akane, by then, had a raging bonfire of a battle aura going as she used   
every ounce of strength she could muster to pull the mallet free. Her   
feet were already buried in the earth up to her ankles when Ranma   
released it. Needless to say, Akane learned what flying was like as she   
shot like a rocket into the air. She landed on the roof and by the time   
she got to class was late.  
****  
  
Ranma watched Akane storm out of the classroom with a pair of buckets and   
had to use all of his will power not to bust out in wild guffaws of   
laughter.  
  
That was mean, Ranma, commented Chiron,but it sure was funny. He   
then filled Ranma's head with mental laughter.  
  
"Mr. Saotome, maybe you could tell the class what's so funny about   
the American bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?" asked the history   
teacher when she saw Ranma smiling during her somber lecture.  
  
Ranma blushed beet red and answered,"No, sorry."  
  
The teacher pointed to the hall, and Ranma sighed in resignation. Now   
he would be subject to Akane's incessant insults.  
****  
  
Across town, at a normal shool where students came to learn and   
violence didn't occur on a regular basis, Satori Peterson, the daughter   
of a wealthy American business man and an outspoken Japanses journalist,   
was in the fight of her life. Her friends and classmates watched in   
shock and awe as she wound her way down the field dodging her opponents   
and their attempts to sieze the soccer ball that she was so   
deftly manuevering towards the goal.  
  
"Satori! Satori! Satori!" they cheered, clapping their hands and   
stomping their feet on the bleachers.  
  
With almost inhuman, unless you live in Nerima, agility, Satori kicked   
the ball high into the air, then followed it up. When they both   
reached their apex, Satori performed a spinning axe kick that drove the   
ball towards the earth below like a missle. It easily plowed the   
goalie over, bringing the girl's team up to two dozen goals with the   
boy's staying at a respectable zero. The buzzer signalling the end of   
the game rang and a collective groan rose from the males in the audience   
and on the field as their pride took a severe beating at the hands of a   
cute, somewhat shy girl.  
  
Nice game, Shara complimented her.  
  
Thanks Shara.  
  
Satori found herself swept into the air, borne on the shoulders of   
her teammates as they exulted in feminine superiority. When they set   
her down at the end of the field and congratualtions had been made,   
her two best friends ran over to her.  
  
"Satori-chan, we're so proud of you!" Mishka cheered.  
  
"I can't believe how good you are. We may have an olympic candidate   
here, Mishka," Mary commented.  
  
"Ah you guys," Satori said shyly,"it really was nothing. You shouldn't   
make a big deal out of it."  
  
Her friends followed her towards the gym.  
  
"You can't be serious. I've never seen anybody move like that."  
  
Satori liked the praise, but couldn't help feeling that she didn't   
deserve it. It was Shara who had given her the ability, she hadn't   
worked for it.  
  
Another girl came running up to them."Hey Satori, there's a woman waiting   
for you by the gym. It sounded urgent. Gotta go, great game by the   
way," she said as she ran off toward another group of girls.  
  
Instantly Satori's good mood vanished and her smile slipped away. It must   
be that horrible Nanami woman again.Shara, what am I going to do?   
Satori asked desperately. Nanami had threatened to actually *kill* her   
if she didn't come and work for Kanzaki Industries, but she didn't want   
any part of Nanami's plan to take over Japan, and the way that man in   
the trench coat had looked at her body made her shudder.  
  
The first think you're going to do is calm down. Try to breath   
slowly. Good. Now make an excuse and gets your friends out of danger.  
  
Following Shara's advice, Satori said,"Um, guys, I think that it'd be best   
if you went on home. Ms. Nanami probably wants to take me to see my   
dad," she lied.  
  
They agreed, and with one last round of congratulations, departed.  
  
Now, I'm going to get you some back-up, but it may take a while for him   
to get here so I want you to watch out and be ready to fight back if   
Tirna's host tries anything.  
  
Okay. Nervously, Satori walked to the gym. She found Nanami in the   
parking lot leaning against her black convertible BMW. Nanami was   
as beautiful as ever in her immaculately tailored dark blue business suit   
and her shiny black hair only served to set off the milky perfection of   
her skin.  
  
"Satori, so good to see you again. Have you thought about my offer?"   
she asked in a voice as smooth as silk. Her smile, Satori knew, hid a   
very ugly individual, personality wise, behind it.  
  
"Y-yes, yes I have," she replied.  
  
"And do you accept it?" Nanami's eyes glinted like polished mirrors.  
  
Satori was too scared to answer. She couldn't say yes, but if she said   
no the woman could very well destroy her. From what she had learned   
from Shara and her own experience in the constructon yard where she had   
met the legendary Ranma, Satori knew that she could possibly beat Nanami   
if it came down to a fight, but the idea of killing someone made her   
sick.  
  
"Well girl, what have you decided?"  
  
It's all right, came Shara's voice,you can tell her no. It's taken   
care of.  
  
Satori breathed a sigh of relief and with more strength than she thought   
she had, said,"No. I'd never help you."  
  
Nanami scowled down at the smaller girl. If that's how she wanted to play   
it then so be it."I warned you and gave you ample time, but you've made   
your choice, so I must make mine."  
****  
  
Ranma! Satori's in trouble. Shara says that Nanami has returned to   
find out her answer and she's afraid that Nanami will carry out her   
threat. You have got to help her.  
  
Ranma was in the middle of gym class, meaning that he was watching a group   
of boys killing themselves in the attempt to impress girls a group of   
girls. No one would probably notice if he slipped away. He was right.   
It also helped that he moved to fast to be seen. Once he found a   
suitable tree to hide behind, he teleported to the location that Chiron   
had fixed in his mind.  
****  
  
Satori was trembling in fear thanks to Nanami's announcement. What was   
she going to do?! Why hadn't she questioned Shara about the back-up?   
What in the hell was the back-up?! She was well on her way to doing   
Nanami's work for her, by heart attack, when she felt an odd sensation   
and saw Nanami's eyes widen a bit. She glanced over her shoulder and   
saw Ranma, Ranma of all people, floating a foot off the ground a few   
feet behind her.  
  
"So your Nanami," he said nonchallantly."I've heard a lot about you."  
  
"And who might you be?" Nanami asked curiously.  
  
"Forget about me, let's talk about you and how you're going to leave   
Satori alone."  
  
Nanami's eyes hardened and her voice carried malice to a new level.  
"Why, exactly, should I do that?"  
  
Satori felt that same odd sensation in the back of her head and in   
response to Nanami's question saw the beautiful car she had been leaning   
on begin to crumple. Like a tin can it crumpled in on itself, slowly   
at first, but then faster, until nothing but a softball sized sphere of   
super dense metal and plastic remained. As soon as the sensation ended   
so too did the force that was supporting the suspended car. With a   
*thud*, the remains of the car struck the asphault and sunk in a couple   
of inches, as well as creating a spider web of cracks in the surface.  
****  
  
Smirking, Ranma allowed himself to float to the ground. Damn that had   
been fun! He reached out and laid his hand on Satori's shoulder,   
then teleprted her and himself to his mother's currently empty house.  
****  
  
Glaring at the remains of her car, Nanami reached into her coat and   
pulled out a small cellular phone. She called someone, giving   
them directions to the school, then hung up.  
  
Nanami, that was the command unit, Tirna informed her.  
  
The what? Nanami snapped.  
  
The boy who just turned that primitive scrap of metal you call a   
transport device into an even less useful scrap of metal, has activated   
the command unit, the most dangerous of us all.  
  
Nanami smiled to herself. Despite his attitudem she liked the   
boy's personality, and his power of course. All she needed to know was   
who he was and with a little creative deception, she cold have another   
weapon at her disposal.  
****  
  
"Where are we?" Satori asked after catching her breath.  
  
"This is my mom's house," Ranma answered."I think it would be better if   
you stayed here for the next few days until we can find a safe place to   
hide you," Ranma told her even though he knew it was bound to cause him   
a world of trouble.  
  
Satori damned near got little pink hearts in her eyes. He had, in a   
way, asked her to stay at his place. She fainted.  
  
Poor girl, Ranma thought as he carried her upstairs to the spare   
bedroom. The stress must have caught up with her.  
****  
  
Author's notes: This is turning out better than I hoped. I've been getting great   
characters from , but I'm afraid that I already have ten, so the character submission   
process is over. Sorry if you have one that got passed over.  
  
Nanami is property of John Surber-(john.surber@uleth.ca)  
  
  
Here are (very)brief character descriptions.   
  
  
BAD-  
  
Blue-Nanami Kanzaki=infrared red absorbtion and re-direction  
extremely intelligent, rich, and power mad  
cube-Tirna  
  
Crystal-Leffan Kieser=tacyhon particle beam, space folding, and firearms  
cares for no one but himself  
cube-Shimte  
  
Gray-Juan Reyna=mono-molecular cords, retractable swords, and stealth  
cold and calculating, kills for money   
cube-Doc  
  
Red-Derrick Craig=creation of solid EM fields and distortion of gravity  
sadistic bully who enjoys hurting others  
cube-Malcolm  
  
GOOD   
Black-Ranma Saotome=space, gravity, and magnetism  
naive with an innocent charm, extremely gifted in the martial arts  
cube-Chiron  
  
Orange-Professor(Akira Yamagi)=manipulation and creation of electrical fields,   
computer interface, and limited compulsion  
extremely intelligent, sarcastic, and intolerate of injustice in any form  
cube-Xaran  
  
White-Jinzo Garasu=illusions  
creative, but otherwise average  
cube-Uso  
  
Purple-Jamie Williams=create sonic blasts and disintegrate matter with intense vibrations   
by touch  
tough acting but goes to pieces at the sight of blood  
cube-Beth  
  
Green-Kojiro Shotenko=limited plant control, chi magnification, biotoxin and acid production,   
and enhanced plant-based attacks and regenerative abilities  
excellant martial artist and very outgoing, attempts to be friends with everyone  
cube-Jizo  
  
Yellow-Satori Peterson=light and plasma  
shy but with an iron will  
cube-Shara  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	5. Power and Responsibility 4

  
Only after Ranma had put Satori to bed and he'd returned downstairs   
did he realize exactly what he had done. He was alone with a pretty   
girl in the house of his mother. That would have meant possible   
embarassment to any other person with even remotey normal parents, but   
Ranma knew his mother well enough to know that he was royally F%&@ed   
if she found out he had a girl over. Not that she would be upset. No,   
far from upset. She would be overjoyed. Nodoka would be so happy that   
her son had proved his manliness that she would almost certainly let   
Akane know, if not the whole harem.  
  
As he tried to think of a soluution to his newest problem that didn't   
involve leaving Satori to the Nanami woman, Ranma began to pace the   
living room nervously.  
  
Ranma, may I make a suggestion? Chiron asked much more calmly thought   
he should have. Afterall the guy carrying him around had only a few   
hours to live.  
  
Suggest away, Ranma replied.  
  
Why not tell your mother the truth?  
  
Ranma considered the advice. It could work. Why hadn't he thought of   
it? It was so obvious. Wait a minute!How did you know what I was   
thinking about? Can you read my thoughts? he suspiscously asked   
his companion.  
  
Chiron coughed mentally.Um, not really. It's just that you're   
screaming your thoughts out so loudly that I'm starting to get a   
headache.  
  
Can you get a headache?  
  
Oh yes. As of right now it's getting very unpleasant.  
  
His worries momentarily forgotten, Ranma asked,How can you have a   
headache? You're a computer.  
  
Sounding almost hurt, Chiron answered,I am not a *computer*. I am   
an artificially sentient biologically active neural processor. And I   
get headaches from your mental stress, the same as you would if I   
wasn't soaking it all up.  
  
Scientific gibberish Ranma didn't understand, but bullshit he did.So   
you're just a very, very advanced computer, heh?  
  
The mental silence lasted for several long moments, unitl finally,   
Chiron said,Yeah, pretty close.  
  
Ranma didn't have time to gloat, mainly because he was busy   
panicking. Someone was at the front door and the sound of a ket turning   
in the lock seemed to stab into his ears. He wasn't ready!  
****  
  
Nodoka opened the front door and picked up her bag of groceries. She   
was determined to fix Ranma the best meal of his young life, as a   
welcome home present. She still couldn't decide wether or not Genma   
should be allowed to attend. Kicking the door shut behind her,   
Nodoka followed it up with slipping her shoes off, then headed for   
the kitchen. As she passed the living room she saw Ranma sitting on   
the sofa. He was busy gnawing on a finger. Ranma?   
  
Nodoka dropped the bag when she realized her son was home. She rushed   
over to him and gave him a motherly hug and kissed him on the cheek.  
  
"What are you doing home so early, Son? However did you get in?" she   
asked after turning him loose  
  
Ranma looked very nervous as he spoke."Mom, I need to tell you some-  
thing. It'll sound very strange, and mostly unbelievable, but it's   
all true." He waited for her approval.  
  
"Of course, Son, you can tell me anything." Sensing that whatever her son   
had to say may take a while, Nodoka sat down next to him. Maybe he   
had finally decided to marry and make lots of grandchildren. She would   
need at least a dozen if she didn't want to die prematurely from   
extreme boredom in her declining years.  
  
Ranma began with finding Chiron, the changes that had brought, and how   
he suspected that the cure for his curse had come with it. He went on   
to tell what Chiron had told him of Nanami and the others working for   
her, finally finishing his narrative on the subject of Satori.  
  
Ranma was such a manly son. Always looking out for others. Always kept   
an eye out for the ladies, too."Where is the poor dear?" Nodoka asked   
Ranma.  
  
"In the spare bedroom."  
  
"Wait here, Son. I'm just going to make sure she's alright."  
****  
  
Ranma, what were you talking saying about a curse? Chiron asked him   
after his mother had departed for her meeting with Satori.  
  
It had completely slipped his mind to mention the curse to Chiron. A lot   
had been going on, and Chiron had been offline when it all happened.Before   
I found you I used to turn into a girl everytime I got splashed with   
cold water.  
  
A girl. Chiron suddenly burst into fits of laughter. Eventually he   
calmed down and asked,And you don't have it now?  
  
No it's gone.  
  
Could you describe the transformation? I assume there was a   
transformation, not just a changing of bodies?  
  
It was definately a transformation. My body would shrink and I always   
lost a lot of weight. I was weaker, but also faster, and may range   
decreased a lot. Everything went back to normal whenever I got splashed   
with hot water.  
  
Almost a minute passed before Chiron's excited answer came to Ranma.  
During the initial conversion process, after your body had been altered,   
but before the advanced systems had been anchored to your nervous system,   
I ran into an energy anomaly. It was most unusual, and was interfering   
with placing the spacial generators. I couldn't link your energy with   
the generators because the anomaly acted as a buffer between the two, so   
I used the already installed gravitational and magnetic capacitors to   
draw the energy away. Of course the capacitors weren't meant to handle   
that type of energy, and it all dissipated harmlessly. That must have   
been related to your curse in some way that I can't determine with the   
means available to me. It's most fortunate that this happened or the   
first time you transformed the technology within you would have retained   
its normal size while your body shrunk around it. You would have   
died.  
  
Ranma shuddered as he thought of strange machinery sticking out at odd   
angles from various places on his female body. At least he wouldn't have   
to worry about that.Thanks, I guess. You didn't do anything else to me   
that you don't know the effects of did you?  
  
Well now that you mention it, I did run into a very small portion or   
your brain that was highly overactive.  
  
Overactive?  
  
Producing much more energy than necessary, or safe. I chose it as the   
core of my consciousness since I could substitute any of the functions   
it performed, and I felt it would be safer to remove the area without   
highly invasive and dangerous brain surgery.  
  
Couldn't really complain about that.Thanks again.  
****  
  
Nodoka led a much more conscious Satori down the stairs. The girl had a   
rosy cast to her cheeks and would not make eye contact with Ranma.  
  
"Son, it was very admirable of you to save Satori, but I'm sure that   
her parents must be worried sick by now," Nodoka said.  
  
"Both my mother and father are out of town, Mrs. Saotome. I've been   
staying with a friend."  
  
"Well then, we can't have you put your friend in any danger, or increase   
that which you are already in. You'll just have to stay with us until   
your parents return. Then we'll make other arrangements."  
  
"I wouldn't want to be a burden," Satroi said quietly.  
  
"Nonsense," Nodoka replied."You wouldn't be any trouble, I'm sure. Now   
that that is decided, Ranma will be taking you to your house to gather   
up some clothes and things."  
  
"Huh?" asked Ranma. His mother hadn't actually invited Satori to stay   
over at his house?! Sure he had done it, but Ranma knew he never   
thought things through all the way unless he was in a fight so he could   
be excused for being dumb, but his mother was an adult, she was supposed   
to make sure this kind of thing didn't happen.  
  
"I was just telling Satori-chan that you were kind enough to offer her   
an escort home."  
  
Ranma nodded. They were on the opposite side of Nerima, and they   
probably hadn't started looking for him yet. He wasn't too late. Maybe   
he could avoid being seen by anyone. He would have to be especially   
careful around other teenagers. There was no way to tell if they   
were working for Nabiki.  
  
"Great! Now you take Satori-chan and I'll go start dinner." She didn't   
leave either of the teend time to say anything, grabbing up her groceries   
and scurrying into the kitchen.  
****  
  
Nodoka smiled to herself once she was safely in the kitchen. That   
girl definately had a crush on her son. If Satori could just work up   
the nerve to seduce her son then Nodoka was sure she could get her son   
out of the engagements to all those horrible girls! And to think that   
she had been hoping Akane would marry Ranma. That girl was just plain   
mean.  
****  
  
"Wow, your mom is..."  
  
"Overbearing?" Satori nodded."Yeah I know what you mean. So where do   
you live." Please don't let it been near Furinkan.  
  
Satori gave Ranma the general directions, but stopped abruptly   
before finishing."Shara says to forget about directions. She's sending   
the coordinates and a picture to Chiron so that you can teleport us   
directly to my house."  
  
Even as she spoke, Ranma was recieving a mental picture of Satori's house   
and a set of spacial coordinates. It was wierd how all he had to do was   
look at the trio of separate numbers and he knew where he would appear.  
****  
  
Satori, you really need to calm down, Shara chided her.Your heartrate   
and breathing are very high and your blood is becoming hyper-oxygenated.  
  
Satori couldn't help it. She felt her ears burning red as Ranma put his   
hand on her shoulder to teleport them to her house. He had to notice   
that she was almost as red in the face as his shirt.  
****  
  
Ranma made a note to himself to ask his mother is she thought Satori   
was sick. Satori's face was very red, from a fever, he guessed. There   
was nothing he could do about it. Besides, now that he could simply   
teleport them to Satori's house, there was no fear of being found   
with another girl.  
  
As quickly as the world caved in on itself, it sprang back into its   
normal non-warped existance around Ranma and Satori. It was becoming   
easier, Ranma noted, though it had never really been difficult to   
teleport. Practice did make perfect afterall.  
  
Satori let out a quick gasp, still unaccustommed to the feeling of   
whatever the process was that allowed Ranma to move without moving.   
It probably would have been disorienting to him too if Chiron hadn't   
tweaked a few things in his head. That, more than anything, made   
Ranma nervous. Even though he agreed with Chiron's decision to replace   
the damaged section of his brain, what would happen if he suddenly had   
to fight a fire-chunking demigod and he needed a Hiryu Shoten Ha, but   
he couldn't make them anymore. It *had* happened before. Ranma dropped   
the unpleasant thought, choosing instead to gawk at his surroundings.  
  
It was mostly pink.  
  
With lots of fluffy purple stuff.  
  
And lace. Lots of lace.  
  
There were also pictures of guys on the walls. Semi-nude guys.  
  
It was a girl's bedroom!  
  
Ranma screamed then dived under a queen sized bed seemingly composed   
of purple ruffles. Just to make sure he wasn't attacked by any   
carnivorous teddy-bears, he readied his distortion field, just   
encase.  
  
The sound of giggling made Ranma peek out from under an overhanging fall   
of lace. Satori was giggling girlishly while trying desperately to   
stifle more raucous laughter. She finally failed and laughed until she   
fell back into a normal wooden chair, the only pieced of un-hyper-  
feminine material in the room.  
  
"R-Ranma," Satori wheezed,"what in the world is wrong with you?"  
  
Ranma nervously crawled out from his hiding place. Nothing had attacked   
him yet, so he was probably safe.  
  
"Well?" She giggled again.  
  
Ranma grumbled at his own behavior when he replayed the whole scene in   
his mind, once again cursing his father for ever being born, even though   
he knew the ramifications that the event not occuring would bring.  
"You promise not to tell?" Ranma asked Satori. She nodded and   
he continued,"When I was a kid, about six or seven, I guess, Oyagi took   
me to a carnival that was visiting from America. Well, he found a place   
with all kinds of scary stuff in it. Then as part of my training, to   
conquer fear he said, he snuck into the place one night and locked me in   
one of the rooms. When he turned the lights on I was trapped in a   
room almost exactly like this one, except there were giant stuffed   
animals with metal teeth and knife-wielding dolls. The bastard left me   
in there the whole night."  
  
Satori burst into another fit of giggles.  
  
"You promised," accused Ranma. Okay, he would sure never tell that story   
to another living soul, especially if it got that reaction.  
  
Satori managed to catch her breath and apologized,"I'm sorry Ranma,   
I couldn't help myself." She blushed, or was her face already rosy   
from laughing so hard, and began moving about her room with practiced   
ease, flowing from one giant walk-in closet on one side of the room, to   
an equally huge bathroom on the other. Within a minute she had a   
large duffel bag packed full of necessities absolutely essential to   
the survival of girls the world around. Then she started packing   
clothes. This took longer, almost five minutes, and when it was over   
Ranma had a large bag under on arm and an even larger one slung over   
his shoulder.  
  
Of course Satori could have carried them. Like Ranma, she could most   
likely have lifted a greyhound bus one-handed, but she was used to   
passing baggage off to ever accomadating boys, and Ranma was the a  
ccomadating type.  
  
"This all?"  
  
"For now, but we may have to make another trip in a couple of days,"   
Satori answered.  
  
Ranma decided not to reply, not wanting to offend a girl who was being   
nice to him for no reason. It also helped that she was a living   
weapon. With his free hand he gripped her shoulder lightly and once   
again teleported them to his home.  
****  
  
"Satori-chan, would you like to help me cook?" She really should   
establish a good relationship with the girl that she was praying would   
marry her son.  
  
Satori had just finished unpacking her things in the spare bedroom and   
was sitting at the kitchen table flipping through a magazine. At   
Nodoka's question her head snapped up and she got a gleam in her eyes."I   
love to cook and I would love to help."  
  
From then on they worked like a team, backing each other up and   
performing separate tasks that soon brought the bigger picture of   
the meal into focus.  
  
"So, Satori-chan, what do you think of my son?" Nodoka asked suddenly   
as the two of them worked together mincing vegetables.  
  
Satori fumbled with the knife and it ran down the back of her pointer   
finger. Normally she would have had a bad cut requiring several   
stitches, but Satori wasn't exactly normal now, so the blade glanced   
off her skin, unnoticed by the older woman."W-what do you mean,   
Auntie?" Nodoka had insisted that she be called that.  
  
Without stopping her chopping, Nodoka said,"I know that you like him,   
it is fairly obvious."  
  
Satori slumped, her whole body going limp."I must be making a fool out   
of myself in front of him." She 'eeped' when she realized what she had   
said.  
  
Nodoka smiled and went on."Don't worry, my son is almost completely   
oblivious to anything but a completely direct appraoch from a girl.   
He just doesn't pick up on the more obscure signals we women send   
out."  
  
Satori's face got a very confused look."You sound like you don't care   
wether I like Ranma or not, but doesn't he have a fiance?"  
  
Nodoka smiled again."Oh no dear, Ranma hasn't got a single fiance, he's   
got four." She stopped, giving Satori time to close her mouth and make   
her eyes go back to normal size."It's not by choice that he is betrothed   
to them, I can assure you, but because of his father's lack of   
responsibility and honor. The girls are just dreadful, too. One of them   
is a backward Chinese girl who can barely even speak Japanese, the chef   
is a cross-dresser, the gymnast is completely insane, and the worst one   
of all is constantly blaming problems on Ranma and hitting him. So, you   
see, I would not mind at all if something like a relationship was to   
form between you and my son."  
****  
  
Luckily, Ranma was nowhere within hearing range of his mother's   
conversation with his newest aquaitence. He was having a chat with   
the little voice in his head.  
  
Go over that one more time, Ranma requested.  
  
Exasperatedly, Chiron said,Priziun society is based around the color   
of a person's skin. There is no discrimination because the culture   
chose to develop towards its present status millenia ago.  
  
Yeah, yeah, I got all that. I mean go over the color thing.  
  
There are ten naturally occuring skin colors among the Priziun   
people. Through selective breeding and social isolation between   
young Priziuns, different sets of values and beliefs are indoctrinated   
into them. White Priziuns, for example, are educated almost exclusively   
in the arts, nurturing their creativity, and forming them into highly   
skilled artisans. Blue Priziuns, like my creator, are given little   
education beyond mathematics and the sciences. They form the scientiffic   
and engineering sector of the populace. Even though occupations are   
color specific, no one color has any advantage over any other color,   
meaning that a red Priziun could be brought up like a white one and have   
the same artistic motivation as a white.  
  
Ranma reminded himself that they were talking about a completely   
alien society and he couldn't expect them to live like people from   
earth.What about black?  
  
Black Priziuns are trained from an early age to be soldiers, and make up   
the entirety of the military command structure, Chiron finished, his   
mental voice clearly betraying his happiness that he would no longer have   
to explain the complicated and strange, even to him, Priziun way of   
life.  
  
So that would make me like the leader, or something, Ranma mused   
to himself, not even aware that he was talking to Chiron.  
  
Chiron laughed weakly before saying,Ranma, you may well be the most   
capable warrior ever encountered by a Priziun...or Priziun technology,   
but you are far from being a leader. You have much more maturing to   
do before such a task falls into your lap.  
  
Ranma took the criticism in good humor, knowing that it was the truth.  
Okay then, since you're the black cube, does that mean that you could   
tell the others what to do?  
  
Sure, I could tell them what to do until I'm blue in the face,   
figuratively, but I have no real authority. Those cubes who have been   
found by the people similar to you may have developed personalities,   
like Shara, that respect my decisions. That's all though.  
****  
  
Nanami leaned back in her leather upholstered chair, drumming her fingers   
on the mahagony desktop as she waited impatiently for Leffan to arrive.   
The glossly red of her long, glossy red fingernails, reflected her   
mood perfectly. The glow from a myriad of heat lamps mounted above   
her stained the rest of her and her surroundings blood red. She still   
hadn't reached capacity yet, despite being in an almost constant state   
of thermal drain. Tirna assured her, though, that her limit would soon   
be reached. Her calculations put her maximum capacity at nearly ten   
billion BTUs. The numbers indicated the fantastic amount of damage she   
could do if the crystalline emitters in her palms would allow for more   
than focused beams and intense blasts of infrared energy, but the   
technology grafted within her body by Tirna was centuries, if not   
millenia, beyond human duplication, and there was no way to tell what   
the side effects would be if she tampered with what she didn't   
understand.  
  
A hazy plane of air formed several meters in front of Nanami's   
desk, signalling that the wait for Leffan was over. She would have to   
keep in mind that Germany was in a different time zone when she scheduled   
the vext meeting.  
  
"Hello Nanami," Leffan greeted her in heavily, though passable,   
accented Japanese.  
  
"Leffan. I take it that the trip went well?" Leffan's ability to   
create those mysterious gateways of his demonstrated just how advanced   
the cubes were. Nanami couldn't even begin to wrap her mind, considerable   
as it was, around the sophistication needed to create stable portals   
between two places in space.  
  
Leffan shrugged."I can't complain."  
  
Nanami flipped the switch that controlled the heat lamps and quickly   
absorbed the excess heat from the room returning it to a more   
comfortable, less life threatening temperature. Knowing Leffan, he   
would have let himself cook before he complained about it."So, getting   
down to business, do you have the arms ready for production?"  
  
Leffan nodded and reached his arm into one of those portals of his, no   
doubt retrieving the desired object from a predetermined table   
somewhere. When he pulled his arm back his hand held a long bundle of   
wires, tubing, and microchips."Like the rest of the armor, the   
servo-hydraulic hybrid design increases speed and strength by a factor   
of ten." He laid it on the desk."The outer plating has to be fitted after   
the fire-controls are linked to the soldier. The weapons are modular and   
can be easily exchanged. Presently we have working grenade launchers,   
flame throwers, autocannons, and anti-armor rocket launchers. There are   
also a number of close combat weapons that can be chosen to best suit   
the soldier."  
  
"Excellant," Nanami grinned. Leffan's people were leftover from the   
cold war, and they were *good* at what they did"What about the   
lasers?"  
  
"My scientists are making progress, but your expectations may be too   
high. The energy cells can only hold ten charges at the most, and   
that's pushing past safety tolerances. Now that that's taken care of,   
we should discuss my expenses on so much R&D and the agreed upon payment."  
  
Nanami reached into her desk and pulled a large velvet pouch out. It   
was almost bursting at the seams with its contents. She undid the tie-  
string holding it closed and passed it to Leffan."Twenty million in   
uncut diamonds, as usual."  
  
Leffan deposited the bag of precious stones on the other end of a portal   
then nodded to his business associate before standing and walking through   
a portal that ceased to exist as soon as he passed through it.  
  
Author's notes: I'm on a roll so look for chapter five in the next few   
days.  
  
dark_phoneix@hotmail.com 


	6. Power and Responsibility 5

  
  
Power and Responsibility: Chapter 5  
  
Kojiro glared at the police officers back as the uniformed man wrote   
him a speeding ticket. It would have to be the one time he had ever   
broken the speed limit that he got caught. Knowing it was petty   
and spiteful, and that the man was just doing his job, Kojiro raised   
his hand, palm toward the officer, and shot a miniscule thorn into him.   
The officer absently swatted at his back attempting to get rid of a   
mosquito that didn't exist. It'd be nice to know how many tickets the   
man could write when he was so busy scratching at the new rash   
already developing on his that he couldn't think.  
  
With an almost polite farewell, the officer handed the citation to   
Kojiro before heading back to his motorcycle. He was already scratching   
at the place where the thron had struck.  
  
Nice touch, Jizo commented sarcastically as Kojiro put his Honda into   
drive and pulled of the roadside.  
  
If he hurried he could still make it to the tournament.Thanks,   
Kojiro replied dryly.  
  
It was almost half-an-hour later when Kojiro pulled into the driveway of   
his and his parent's home. There were several cars parked alongside   
the road, and even more bicycles chained to lamp posts and the iron bars   
that made up the front wall of the property. He rushed into the house and   
up the stairs to his room, retrieved his gi, and leapt out the window.   
He changed into his gi before landing. Sure enough, as he ran into the   
huge dojo that his father and three brothers ran, Kojiro saw that the   
fights had already begun. At least they weren't very far along, he   
noted, only second dan students.  
  
Now knowing that he wasn't too late, Kojiro calmly made his way   
through seated and standing audience members to where his family was   
seated.  
  
"I was worried you wouldn't be gracing us with your prescence,"   
Akira, Kojiro's father said without taking his eyes off the fight between   
his student and his opponent from a rival school.  
  
"Lighten up, Pop. I had a major exam today, then I got caught in   
traffic." Kojiro didn't see why they had to have these little   
tournaments between the three biggest dojos in the district. If they   
would wait for the yearly Tokyo-wide event there would be many   
more competitors and fewer people who knew your students' strengths   
and weaknesses.  
  
The majority of the afternoon passed, much to Kojiro's chagrin, with   
the Shotenko dojo winning a little over half of the matches. If he had   
known that he wouldn't have been fighting for almost three, Kojiro could   
have taken his time and not gotten a ticket. When it finally came to the   
end of the competition, Kojiro found himself matched against an   
arrogant kendoist who spoke in an archaic dialect. Tatewaki Kuno was   
a newcomer to the fights, with no school, and as such, he had had to   
fight his way through the more experienced students in order to get a   
chance at fighting the winning school's champion. Oh well, it would be   
worth the trouble if he got to pound a little of that Shakespearean   
nonsense from the idiot's head.  
  
"Who would challenge the mighty Blue Thunder of Furinkan High,   
undefeated kendo champion, and dread enemy of the foul Ranma   
Saotome?"  
  
The fool's babbling caught the attention of several of the instructors   
and students in the room. Ranma Saotome was a legend in martial   
arts circles. There were rumors, though with reliable sources, that he   
had fought and killed a Kami in China. The raving also jogged the memory   
of many present. They had also heard of the countless defeats of   
a delusional Kendoist at Ranma Saotome's hands. Undefeated indeed,   
they thought.  
  
In response to Kuno's challenge, Kojiro stood, pulling a bo staff from   
a nearby rack of weapons. It was nothing compared to the one he had   
created using the power granted to him by Jizo, but it would do."I   
do," Kojiro said firmly.  
  
Kuno scoffed,"You? They would send a mere boy to do a man's job?"  
  
Kojiro scowled at the idiot. Even if he had managed to beat the   
others, Kojiro was on another level than Kuno, and he knew. Even   
before meeting Jizo he could have easily defeated him. It would be   
harder faking a small amount of exertion during the fight than anything   
else.  
  
Akira Senior, Kojiro's grandfather, and a judge of the tournament,   
signalled them to the ring. Once the two warriors, one wielding a bokken   
and the other a bo, were in place, the elderly man brought his hand down   
with a chopping motion and called for the fight to begin.  
  
Kuno came rushing at Kojiro from the begginning, attempting to cleave   
his skull with a vicious overhead blow. Using his bo, Kojiro parried   
the strike, leaving Kuno open wide open and defenseless as the butt end   
of the bo crashed into his stomach.  
  
The air exploded from Kuno's lungs with a *whoosh*, followed by a number   
of deep, racking coughs. Kojiro pulled back to give his opponent time   
to recover, something Kuno was very good at since he recieved   
countless poundings by at least one Nerimian class martial artist   
daily.   
  
"I fight on!" Then he renewed his attack with a vengeance, once again   
rushing Kojiro, heedless of the danger. This time the attack came   
at Kojiro's side. It was fast and precise, and Kojiro observed, charged   
with a moderate amount of chi. It was the same technique he used to   
cut through solid objects with his bo. But used on a person, such an   
attack was just as dangerous as a blade would be.  
  
"Back off, you idiot. We're not trying to kill each other!" Kojiro   
shouted as he knocked Kuno's sword upward, making sure his bo had at   
least as much chi in it as the bokken. This time instead of going for   
the once again exposed torso, Kojiro swept Kuno's feet out from under   
him.  
  
Kuno attempted to roll, but a bo planted at his adam's apple stopped   
him. Slowly, unbelievingly, he looked down to see Kojiro's staff poised   
to end his life with a simple thrust.  
****  
  
It wasn't possible! He could not have been defeated! Tatewaki Kuno   
was unbeatable, the greatest master of the blade ever. But the proof   
was right before his eyes, staring him in the face. The answer came to   
him in an epiphany. This so called Shotenko school of Martial Arts was   
no more than a temple of vile magic. It sickened him to even be within   
it's walls. They were obviously in league with Saotome, using their   
dark arts to cast doubt into his noble heart. He couldn't allow it!  
  
Kuno ignored the offered hand of assistance and stood on his own.   
He surveyed the room, looking for an exit. If he suprised them   
quickly enough they would not be able to assume their true forms and   
pursue him into the light of day. With a loud shout of,"I will return!"   
Kuno bolted. He shoved aside two children and ran out through the   
shogi.  
****  
  
Kojiro joined in as the entire gathering of martial artists, young and   
old, laughed hysterically at the *Blue Thunder's* exit.  
****  
  
"So mom, is Oyaji going to be staying here too?" Ranma asked as he sat   
down to eat, along with Satori and his mother.  
  
"You should have more respect for your father," Ranma shrugged," but yes,   
he too will be moving back home. It has been almost eleven years since   
he left."  
  
Ranma sighed a bit regretfully, in a combination of knowing how much he   
had missed as a child growing up without a mother, and the knowledge that   
his good for nothing father would still be close enough to make his   
life miserable.  
  
Nodoka served them helpings of rice and stir-fried vegetables first.   
Ranma, and suprisingly Satori, made short work of them and the   
following courses. Nodoka, who was on a diet no one knew about, she did   
have to keep her figure afteral, ate only small portions.  
  
"That was great Mom, Satori. You really out did yourselves,"   
Ranma complimented them as he leaned back, patting his stomach   
contentedly.  
  
"T-thanks Ranma, Auntie did most of the work though," Satori said   
while blushing furiously. Ranma recognized it for what it was now.   
How could he have missed it? He had seen the same expresiion, and   
color, on the faces of countless girls at school when he caught them   
sneaking glances at him in class. Now he would have to be immensely   
careful, or somehow, he would end up with another fiance. That would   
be bad.  
  
Ranma, you're giving me another headache, Chiron pointed out.  
  
Sorry, the boy muttered. Happy thoughts, happy thoughts, happy   
thoughts, he repeated continuously. Eager to get out from under his   
mother's approving and fawning gaze, Ranma said,"I'm going to go out   
back and practice for a little while." It would also allow him to put   
some distance between himself and Satori.  
  
"That's nice, dear. Don't overdo it, though."  
  
Gratefully, Ranma made his escape.  
****  
  
"Did you see, Satori-chan? He finally noticed you," Nodoka enthused as   
they put the newly washed dishes away.  
  
"Auntie, I'm not at all good at this kind of stuff." It amazed Satori   
that she could open up so easily to this strange woman, who it seemed,   
had latched onto the idea of Ranma marrying her. Just the thought   
made Satori blush, again.  
  
"You're doing just fine."  
  
"But I'm not doing anything. I just start blushing and stuttering every   
time he looks at me," Satori admitted glumly.  
  
Nodoka's smile was sly, and only slightly evil."And that's just what you   
need to continue doing. My son is accustomed to overbearing girls   
throwing themselves at him, and he reacts badly to it, mostly by   
becoming rude and standoffish. So you see, he's never had a normal   
acting girl to form a relationship with."  
  
As Satori stood pondering the revelation, Nodoka dried her hands on a   
small towel and pulled a cordless phone from the wall. She didn't pay   
any attention as the woman talked to someone she had called. Satori   
felt the same odd sensation she now identified as a signal that Ranma   
was messing around with the forces of nature.  
  
Why don't you go out and talk with him? It also wouldn't hurt if you   
spent a little time further aqaunting yourself with your abilities.   
Shara's voice broke the silence.  
  
But he'll look at me, then I'll turn into a blushing idiot, Satori all   
but wailed. Despite information from Nodoka, it just didn't seem natural   
for a popular guy like Ranma to be attracted to someone as quiet and shy   
as she was.  
  
I really wish Chiron had programmed me with basic psychology instead of   
a bunch of useless recipes that don't even apply to the wildlife of   
this planet, Shara mumbled.  
  
That made Satori laugh. The yellow Priziuns, as Shara had told her, were   
the beuraucrats, doctors, and caretakers of the great planetary   
libraries. Because of this, and since Shara was meant for a yellow,   
Chiron had intended to cram as much information into the little yellow   
cube as possible. Unfortuantely, the information download had   
been interrupted by the attack on the lab. The last subject to   
be transferred had been Priziun Cuisine.  
  
Hey, it's not funny. If I had those files I might have been able to   
tell you how to stop making a fool of yourself.  
  
Satori snorted at Shara, and steeling herself, marched into the backyard   
to meet her fate.  
****  
  
Ease up Ranma, or you'll destroy it, Chiron advised Ranma.  
  
Ranma was sitting cross-legged in the backyard, floating several inches   
above the lawn. Levitating slightly above his upraised palms was what   
used to be a knife. Ranma had liberated it from his mother's kitchen   
and after stripping the wooden handle from it set to work. Using   
a combination of magnetic and gravitational force, Ranma was   
slowly compressing and reshaping the former ginzu. It had started   
out as little more than a large butcher knife, but now had the privelage   
of being no thicker than a knitting needle and about a foot long.  
  
Pretty good idea, Chiron. Mom'll probably think that Pop stole the knife   
to sell for food.  
  
I'm not complaining. Now, for a few moments, double the pressure on   
it.  
  
Ranma did as he was told, then asked,I know it's good practice, but why   
am I doing thins. I'm not going to be able to use this thing for any   
useful purposes.  
  
No, you won't, but Satori will, Chiron answered.  
  
How is Satori going to use this? She isn't a fighter, and even if she   
was I doubt she could come up with much use for a super hard spike except   
to throw it. Ranma still hadn't figured out what to do about the girl.   
She was nice and beautiful, and she didn't hit or smother him, so she   
had several good points, but there were the other girls and well...  
  
It isn't to throw, Ranma. Shara requested that you create it so that   
Satori could more adequately focus her plasma attacks.  
  
Oh, okay. Ranma unfolded from his position and dropped to the   
ground, intent on giving Satori the spike, or wand, whatever it was.  
  
Sliding open the back door, Ranma found himself face to face with   
Satori. Her eyese were wide and her cheeks quickly colored. Ranma   
stepped back, but remained close enough to catch her if she fainted. It   
had happened before, afterall, so he couldn't be too careful.  
  
"Satori, just who I was looking for. Here this is for you." Ranma handed   
her the spike.  
  
Satori held the spike in her hand, obviously suprised that it weighed   
so much."T-thanks, Ranma. It's...nice."  
****  
  
It's nice?! That was all she could come up with?! Although she   
really didn't know what she was supposed to do with a piece of metal, and   
had no idea what it was, Satori was flattered by the simple fact that   
Ranma had given her a gift.  
  
Shara's mental head shaking grabbed at Satori's attention.You didn't   
act like this before you met Ranma, maybe I can get Chiron to make Ranma   
stop whatever it is that effects you so strongly. Anyway, that piece   
of metal in your hands is not a gift. Chiron, at my request, had Ranma   
to produce it using his power.  
  
A little disappointed that it wasn't from Ranma, but also relieved at   
the same time, Satori asked,Um, what does it do?  
  
It doesn't do anything. What it 'is' is important. That piece of steel   
is compresses far beyond what human engineering is capable of and has a   
much higher a melting point. I'll finally be able to teach you how to do   
more precise attacks.  
  
Defensively, Satori said,I know how to do everything that your systems   
are capable of.  
  
That doesn't mean that you do it well, or can't do it better,   
Shara remarked.  
  
No use arguing the obvious. Satori realized that she had just had a   
minute long conversation with Shara while she stood in front of Ranma.   
She shook herself, blinking a couple times to moisten her eyes that   
sometimes stayed open when she had mental conversations."Shara was   
just telling me what it is."  
  
Understanding dawned in Ranma's eyes and he seemed to relax."That's   
good. Well I'm going to go wash up."  
  
Ranma left her on the back porch.  
  
Okay, now that the main distraction is gone, we can get down to business.   
I want you to focus a very small sphere of plasma at the blunt end   
and...  
****  
  
Ranma ran into his mother before he could make it up the stairs.  
  
"I just got off the phone with Tendo-san. He was very worried about you,   
as was the rest of the family. Kasumi calmed him down long enough to get   
the phone and I invited them over to visit. Genma's bringing over your's   
and his belongings."  
  
Wordlessly, Ranma nodded and ran up the stairs to his sparsely   
furnished room. Things had just went from bad to worse. Another girl   
was in love with him, a super-powered crazy woman was trying to take over   
the world, but worst of all was Akane. She would be in the same house   
as Satori, and she definately wouldn't miss the look directed at him.   
She would tear Satori to pieces...Ranma's own thought rebounded of the   
sides of his skull. Akane had barely been able to hurt him before he   
met Chiron and now she couldn't even scratch him. Which translated   
to Satori, too, being practically immune to Akane's, Ukyou's, and   
Shampoo's wrath. He didn't know about the chemical side of things,   
and that was Kodachi's strong point. Come to think of it, the only   
people he had to worry about would others that had found a cube.  
  
Wow, that just changed things immensely. Even knowing how big a boost he   
had gotten from Chiron, Ranma had had his new powers for less than a   
week, and he wasn't fully accustomed to them. It came as a shock to   
realize that his old enemies and rivals were to him as babies were to a   
meat grinder. His mood brightened with the knowledge that he would   
survive the coming confrontation, Ranma laid down in his bed, he actually   
had a bed now, to take a short nap. Tendo wouldn't be calm enough to   
travel for a while so he had some time.  
****  
  
Nanami, along with Leffan, who she had called back, and a few select   
members of her R&D team, observed the grafting of the cybernetic jacks   
into the first of the new soldiers, by way of video-feed. The man on   
the table was sedated heavily and nude while surgeons capable of   
performing medical miracles went about making incisions and   
attaching artificial nerve fiber connections to the major nerves   
throughout his body.   
  
"As you can see Leffan, my people and I have not been wasting our   
time. There are nearly a thousand men, all prepared for implants,   
waiting for your shipments," Nanami commented.  
  
Leffan didn't acknowledge Nanami directly, instead asking,"Why are   
those discolored patches of skin there."  
  
Upon close observation, there were, at the groin, neck, and armpit,   
oddly colored areas of skin ranging from green to yellow, that showed   
up against the man's light brown skin.  
  
"Merely a harmless side-effect of the genetic treatments needed to make   
his nervous system receptive to the artificial neural tissue."  
  
"We could not remove that particular trait without making the entire   
series of gene treatments useless," added an older woman with gray   
shot hair and in an immaculate white lab coat.  
  
"With my surgical teams operating on eight hour shifts and the robotics   
lab bringing the new automated units online, I expect to have a   
full compliment of soldiers within the month. Will the goods be ready   
by then?" Nanami asked.  
  
"Actually, we're shooting for two weeks, but like I said earlier, the   
lasers are going to be a problem. With a month, however, we may be   
able to push about fifteen discharges out of the energy cells before   
they have to be recharged."  
  
"Pardon me, Kanzaki-san, but I may be able to help with the energy   
cell problem," a young man with a ridiculously thick pair of glasses   
said.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Last night I created an alloy that should behave desirably with   
the reactancts presently being used in the cells."  
  
"How much of a capacity increase?"  
  
"I can't be sure, M'am, but a third, maybe a half more."  
  
Nanami turned to Leffan."Hakubi will be accompanying you back to Berlin.   
See that he is provided with whatever he needs."  
  
Leffan didn't argue. He was still getting paid and it would save him   
money in the long run. He shrugged and said,"Fine by me."  
  
"Good." Nanami reached into her pocket and pulled out an inget of   
some unidentified black tinted metal."Have Hakubi analyze this, he's my   
chief metallurgist, and use it for the frames of the exoskeletons.   
I'll double your payments if you do."  
  
Once again he didn't argue. More money was more money."What's so   
special about the stuff?"  
  
"It's completely non-ferrous, and once tempered is as hard as   
industrial diamonds."  
  
Leffan whistled in appreciation and Hakubi's eyes came alight with   
the opportunity to study Nanami's mysterious metal.  
****  
  
Nanami wasn't about to tell them that the little piece of metal had been   
part of the casing that Tirna and the other cubes had traversed space   
in. Leffan was the only one who knew what she was capable of and   
spreading the information around was on her things-to-do list.  
****  
  
Author's notes: I know that nothing really happened in this chapter, but   
I 'did' get it done pretty quickly, so that's a point in my favor. Stay   
tuned for the next chapter when things start to get violent!  
  
dark_phoneix@hotmail.com  



	7. Power and Responsibility 6

Power and Responsibility: Chapter 6  
  
"Sasuke, mine enemies surround me, I must discover a solution   
and percevere for my loves'. They would be lost without me,"   
Kuno ranted as he angrily slashed through several wooden   
training dummies with his bokken.  
  
"Yes master, but what can you do?" Sasuke asked nervously.   
Apparently the young master had been defeated by another dark   
sorcerer. What was the world coming to when a man couldn't turn   
his back for fear of being attacked by a dark sorcerer? Poor  
master Kuno.  
  
Kuno struck a pose with his bokken held high."There must be a way   
for the Mighty Blue Thunder to best his vile opposers!" Several   
minutes passed as Kuno and Sasuke stood among the graveyard   
of destroyed dummies. Finally Kuno proclaimed,"I have discovered   
the solution, my faithful servant."  
  
"The young master is wise beyond his years," Sasuke assured   
Kuno.  
  
And so Kuno began a long and colorful description of his plan. By   
the time it was over, Sasuke was visibly shaking and tears were   
leaking down his face. Oh how brave the master was.  
****  
  
"Ranma, the Tendos are here!" Nodoka called from the bottom of   
the stairs.  
  
Nodoka turned back to the Tendos and beckoned them inside."You're   
all looking well. I'm sorry if Ranma's absence distressed you   
Tendo-san."  
  
Soun laughed weakly."Just worried about the heir to the school.   
I don't know what I would do if something happened to him."  
  
Nodoka turned to examine a flower arrangement on a nearby table so   
that no one would see her grimace. Soun and her husband only seemed   
to care about uniting the schools of anything goes. They could   
care less about Ranma's feelings, or all the grandchildren that   
she wanted. What good was uniting the schools if there was no heir   
to carry it into the next generation.  
  
Akane nervously stepped forward."Um, Auntie Nodoka, is it all right   
if I stay, too? I know that you said that Ranma's fiances   
couldn't come over, but I promise I'll behave." Her eyes silently   
plead with the Saotome woman.  
  
To Nodoka's wonder, the girl sounded almost like she cared   
about something. Could she want to see Ranma?"Yes dear, I trust   
that you'll be on your best behavior." Further conversation was   
halted when a sound was heard in the kitchen. Nodoka told everyone   
to make themselves comfortable, and raced into her kitchen to   
find Genma rading the refridegerator.  
  
Genma's head came into view. He had a piece of chicken clenched in   
his teeth, a tub of butter under one arm, and a pack of hot dogs in   
the other.  
  
"Genma," Nodoka growled.  
  
In an instant Genma's pilfered goods returned to their resting   
places and he was innocently smiling at her from the other side of   
the room."Nodoka, so happy to see you. I brought all Ranma's   
stuff." He began to whistle tunelessly.  
  
Nodoka shook her head sadly, pointed to the kitchen door, and   
followed her sulking husband into the living room. Too her   
suprise, Nodoka found a skitish looking Satori standing in the   
other doorway. Hmm, if what they said was true, Satori really   
had nothing to fear from Akane, so letting it play out wouldn't   
hurt anything, except maybe Akane's pride.  
  
Akane was staring at Satori very, very intensely. Her knuckles   
were white from clenching her fists so hard and a muscle in her   
cheek had begun to twitch. It was obviously taking every bit of   
her willpower not to lash out at someone, most likely Satori or   
Ranma.  
  
Might as well add a little fuel to the fire."Oh, how rude of me   
to neglect the introductions. Satori, these are the Tendos."   
She introduced them each by name in order of oldest to   
youngest. Then,"Everyone, this is Satori, a friend of Ranma's.   
She's going to be staying here for a few days." Bingo. Akane   
was beginning to show visible signs of a battle   
aura.  
  
"A friend of Ranma's?" Kasumi asked gently."Come have a seat,"   
she patted the sofa beside her,"and tell us how you met Ranma."   
Maybe Kasumi didn't want Ranma and Akane to marry, either. Or   
maybe she even wanted him for herself! She was so proud of her   
son.  
  
Satori joined Kasumi and said,"You probably won't believe me."  
  
Oh no, she couldn't tell. It could ruin everything!  
  
"Give it a shot, we're open minded," Nabiki, who up to then had   
been silent, said.  
  
"Well, I met Ranma a few days ago when I was practicing in at   
empty consrutuction site. I guess the explosions drew his   
attention. We talked for a minute, but he had to go to school.   
I didn't see him again till today. He saved me from these people   
who have been trying to kidnap me. Auntie Nodoka sorta insisted   
that I stay here until my parents get back to the country."  
  
Whew, that was close. Nodoka obviously didn't give the girl   
enough credit. She had used just enough half truth to make the   
little lies believable.  
****  
  
Nabiki didn't question Satori's story, even though it was   
extremely vague. That part about practicing in the construction   
yard and explosions must mean that the girl was either a very   
skilled martial artist or a hobby demolitionist, so someone that   
Ranma would have to rescue her from would be very strong   
indeed. Besides, she could find out all she needed to know   
later. Nabiki looked over at her younger sister. Wow, she was   
looking really pissed.  
  
The sound of Ranma slowly walking down the stairs drew   
everyones attention in much the same way as Satori's arrival had.  
"Oh, hey," he said casually."Guess I should have called to say   
I wouldn't be coming over or something, heh?"  
  
"Ranma," Akane drew the name out and made it sound like the worst   
of curses,"We were worried." The youngest Tendo didn't sound   
remotely worried.  
  
Nabiki began to wonder if any of the nearby furniture was   
very flammable, because her sister was giving of waves of heat   
and anger. Oh great, she obviously had jumped to the tired and   
much used 'Ranma must be cheating on me because he's breathing in   
the same room as another girl' excuse. Really, it shamed Nabiki   
to think that her sister could be so tempermental. Even with   
his reputation, Nabiki couldn't see exactly how Akane was stringing   
her fiance and Satori together. Oh well, might as well sit back   
and watch the show.  
****  
  
The only reason that Ranma had come downstairs as early as he had   
was because of the fairly large amount of unfocussed chi that   
was beginning to permeate the house. It felt distinctly like anger,   
so it didn't take three guesses to figure out who the energy   
belonged to.  
  
Now Akane was sounding like she wanted to do very unpleasant things   
to him, and the entire group had fallen into an uneasy   
silence. Although he would admit it was stupid later upon   
further thought, Ranma asked,"Hey Akane, you want to go out back   
and maybe spar with Satori? What about it Satori?" It didn't   
even occur to Ranma that he had just stuck a short and already lit   
fuse into the powder keg.  
  
Satori looked relieved just to get away from all the curious   
glances and outright open stares being directed at her. She was   
so relieved that she too didn't think about the consequences   
of agreeing.  
****  
  
Akane managed a slight smile and began popping her knuckles. She   
had known that Ranma would go out and get himself other girls as   
soon as he was living at his own home and wasn't under her   
protection. Now she had an opportunity to pound on Ranma's   
newest little bimbo, and possibly Ranma himself, with it all   
being attributed to 'sparring'.  
  
Akane was the first one out the door.  
****  
  
It began to dawn on Satori that she had done something stupid when   
she found herself facing off against Akane. From Auntie   
Nodoka's stories, Akane was a very emotional martial artist who   
tended to take her displeasure out on people around her. Right   
now Akane was directing a large amount of displeasure her   
way.  
  
"Take it easy on her, Akane. Satori has never had any   
formal training," Ranma said from his place on the porch. The look   
on Akane's face when Satori kicked her ass was going to be   
priceless. She deserved it for even accepting the offer to spar   
with Satori. How could you possibly spar against someone who   
didn't even know how to fight? Akane, though, chose too ignore   
such small inconveniences.  
  
Once it again it must be stated that Ranma wasn't thinking of   
the consequences of his actions.  
  
"No training. Take it easy. Right." Then Akane charged.  
  
Satori had been waiting for some signal from Ranma and was preparing   
to run away as soon as it was given. She didn't want to   
embarass herself in front of Ranma. Unfortunately, it's hard to   
say for whom, Satori was totally unprepared for Akane's suprise   
attack, so she acted on instinct when Akane lunged at her.   
Instinct told her to 'eep' girlishly and throw up her arms to   
protect her face. She did this, of course, but at a much higher   
speed and with a significantly larger amount of power behind it.  
****  
  
Akane's face held a savage intensity as she bore down on Satori.   
She wasn't planning on giving the little slut time to cringe.   
Would Ranma like his little plaything if its jaw was broken?   
Deciding to find out, Akane levelled what would have been a   
devastating uppercut at Satori's chin, but at the last   
possible instant, an indistinct, blur shot up and, with amazing   
force, deflected the blow.  
  
Akane was thrown back onto her rear by its force and was left   
clutching her right arm which was bent in a direction that it   
shouldn't be able to.  
****  
  
Ranma almost interferred when Akane jumped the gun and attacked   
Satori with a fury. So much for taking it easy. But then   
he remembered that Satori was pretty much invulnerable to   
anything Akane could do. He watched as Akane's fist closed on   
Satori's jaw, and almost felt sorry for Akane. She was probably   
going to break her hand on the Satori's face.  
  
When Satori threw up her arms to block Akane, Ranma had no   
trouble seeing the girl's super fast movement, but he was suprised   
when the very sloppy block caught Akane on her forearm. His   
fiance went down hard, and didn't get up. She sat on the   
ground, pitifully holding her broken arm and crying.  
****  
  
Akane wasn't crying from the pain of her broken arm, although it   
hurt terribly, but from the realization that Ranma had been cheating   
on her with Satori. How else could the girl have moved with such   
speed when up to the very moment of attack she had looked and   
acted like the furtherest thing from a fighter, something Ranma   
did regularly? Ranma must have been training her in secret. He   
had probably set this whole thing up just to humiliate her. She   
turned her head away, unable to look into Ranma's eyes as he picked   
her up and carried her into the house. Akane momentarily caught   
sight of Satori's face. Were those tears on the girls face? No,   
she was only seeing things through her own tear-streaked   
eyes.  
  
Ranma carried Akane into the living room and gently laid her in   
an empty chair. Kasumi gasped when she saw her sister's arm and   
Nabiki turned pale.  
  
"What's wrong?" Soun asked. He stood up and looked over   
Ranma's shoulder, seeing Akane's broken arm in the process. Soun   
let out a long, almost animal wail, and collapsed at his   
daughter's side.  
  
"Jeeze, Tendo, it's just a little broken bone. Nothing to get   
so worked up about," Ranma said as he propped the arm up with   
some cushions.  
  
Akane was still avoiding looking up, fearful of seeing   
Ranma's triumphant face, so she endured Kasumi's gentle mothering   
and Nabiki's awkward patting of her shoulder without actually   
seeing who was comforting her.  
****  
  
In short order, Dr. Tofu, called by Nabiki, arrived. Using   
several shiatsu points he deadened feeling in the arm and reset   
the bone, filling the room with a disturbing grating sound.   
After affixing a temporary splint to the arm, he said,"I'm going   
to drive her ahead to my clinic and get x-rays, why don't the rest   
of you catch up when you can?"  
  
They all agreed, for one reason or another, and watched as Dr.   
Tofu pulled out of the driveway.  
****  
  
As soon as the car was out of sight, a red-eyed and weeping   
Soun, rounded on Satori."How dare you attack my daughter!" He   
screamed.   
  
Ranma recognized a demonhead in the making and came to   
Satori's defense."Leave Satori alone, Tendo. She's already   
apologized more times than I can count and I told you, Akane   
attacked her full out when I told her that Satori wasn't very   
skilled. Akane didn't even give Satori time to prepare. It's her   
own fault."  
  
Angrily, Soun demanded,"If she's so unskilled, how did she hurt   
my little baby?"  
  
"Instead of thinking, Akane just attacked Satori blindly, but   
Satori got a lucky block in that hit Akane in just the right   
spot," Ranma replied.  
  
Soun's anger was diminishing as he realized that how he was treating   
an innocent girl."I'm sorry, Satori, I just can't stand the thought   
of my little baby hurt. Wahhhhh!!!" He grabbed onto Genma and   
began crying all over his shoulder. Kasumi went over to comfort   
him.  
  
Silently, almost forgotten in the wake of recent events,   
Nabiki scrutinized Satori and Ranma. The girl was standing   
behind Ranma, still crying softly, and hugging herself. To be   
expected of an obviously softhearted girl who had just   
acidentally broke another girl's arm. Ranma on the other hand,   
was behaving in a number of unexpected ways. He was being   
assertive against her father, defending another girl, and   
most unusually, behaving indifferently to Akane's plight. That   
really didn't fit in with any preconceived notions of the young   
man. And why in the world would Ranma suggest that Akane and   
his latest admirer, who had admitted to having no training   
whatsoever, spar together? He had to have known Akane's mood and   
how she would react to the opportunity to maim one of her rivals all   
in the name of sport. Revelation came in the form of blazing   
fireworks and a veritable marching band of mental sensation. How   
had she not seen it?! Nabiki slapped her hand to her forehead, a   
bit to hard though, bringing about the beginnings of a   
headache. Ranma's affection had somehow switched from Akane to   
Satori. How though? His devotion to her sister seemed absolute.   
He had stuck to her through thick and thin, up and down,   
kidnappings and attempted homicide. It didn't seem probable that   
his loyalties, always firm before, had altered so dramatically   
and become affixed to a normal girl. Satori wasn't a fighter.   
That alone should have ruled her out. All the other girls were...  
all the other girls were! The answer couldn't be so simple.   
But unless Shampoo was up to her old tricks and was messing around   
with some magical spice or other, Ranma had fallen for Satori   
because she 'wasn't' a fighter. The girl also, from the short   
time Nabiki had known her, appeared to be very kind and gentle.   
Akane too was mostly a kind and gentle person, that is when she   
wasn't around Ranma. Maybe that was why Ranma had made Akane seem   
to be the preferred fiance. She didn't throw herself at him, or   
try to snag him with honor or duty. But still, to think that   
Ranma would choose another girl besides Akane, felt unnatural.   
Her attention was drawn back to the scene by Kasumi's words.  
  
"Oh my, we'd better be going Auntie. Father isn't in very good   
shape and Nabiki and I should really check on Akane." Turning   
to Satori, Kasumi said,"I'm sorry that everyting has turned out   
so badly, but we understand that it was an accident." She left   
Soun's side and walked over to Satori and embraced her warmly.   
  
"I understand. Go on then, I'm sure Akane would like to be with   
her sisters. We'll come and visit, tomorrow perhaps?"  
  
"I'm sure Akane would like that."   
****  
  
After they were all gone, Ranma turned to Satori and exclaimed,  
"That was great Satori! You really let her have it!"  
  
Nodoka was the only adult present, Genma having been turned loose   
in the kitchen, so she was the only witness to Ranma being slapped   
very hard by Satori. She winced in sympathy as her son sailed   
across the room. He really did deserve that after tricking Satori   
into hurting Akane like that. Fortunately for her wall,   
Ranma disappeared before hitting it. That was a relief. At the   
speed he had been going there was little doubt that Ranma would   
have continued on his path through several more houses. Satori   
was a very strong girl.  
  
Ranma reappeared instantly across the room with a baffled expression   
on his face."What was that for?" he asked.  
  
Satori choked back a sob, and in a blur that Nodoka could   
barely follow, rushed up the stairs.  
  
"Son, you don't have any clue what has Satori-chan so upset, do   
you?" Ranma was very resilient, she noted, not even having a mark   
on his face where Satori had slapped him.  
  
"Uh, no." Ranma knew that he was missing something important,   
but couldn't figure out what it was. He couldn't understand why   
Satori had hit him or why his mother had that reproving scowl on   
her face. It hurt his feelings a bit to be treated by Satori the   
same way Akane had.   
  
"Okay son, I can see that this may take a while so why don't we have   
a seat." Once they were seated she continued,"You tircked Akane   
into sparring with Satori didn't you?"  
  
"I didn't trick her mom, all I did was ask," Ranme replied   
defensively.  
  
"But you knew her state of mind and you knew how she would react to   
the chance of hurting another girl she felt was close to you?"   
Ranma nodded."So you tricked her. Tricking her wasn't all that   
bad, even if it did lead to Akane being injured. She's a tough   
girl and can deal with a little broken bone. But you tricked   
Satori into hurting Akane, do you see?"  
  
"But why should she care if Akane has a broken arm? That's   
probably the least of what Akane was planning to do to her."  
  
Nodoka shook her head."Satori isn't in any way violent. She may   
now have fantastic abilities that far exceed those of other people,   
but the thought of hurting others is very disturbing to her. You   
set her up to hurt Akane. Understand yet?" Nodoka was very happy.   
Of course she wasn't letting it show on her face, that would   
only confuse Ranma. Her son probably hadn't even realized how he   
was talking about Akane yet. There was no concern in his voice,   
no care, only distaste and contempt.  
  
Okay, he had used Satori to harm Akane. He'd tricked Akane into   
trying to hurt Satori so that Satori could hurt her. Slowly   
he realized what his mother was saying. Even though he couldn't   
see why, Satori was mad at him because he had somehow abused   
his friendship with her, or something like that. This was another   
of those times where he just had to apologize as sincerely as   
possible and hope for the best."Um, I think I'll go apologize   
now."  
  
"Do that."  
****  
  
Good going Ranma, Chiron commented as Ranma ascended the stairs.  
  
Huh?  
  
You really upset Satori. Shara has been screeaming at me for the   
last five minutes telling me how bad a person you are and   
generally cursing her existance.  
  
That bad?  
  
Worse. She says that Satori is distraught. Satori can't see why   
you tricked her into hurting Akane, even though I think it was   
pretty smooth, and is crying her pretty little eyes out right   
now.  
  
It was becoming obvious that he had f#%$ed up good this time.I'm on   
my way to apologize now.  
  
Well, you better do a good job, because the next time Shara   
starts screaming, I'm going to transfer her straight to you. At   
least it'll save me a headache or two.  
****  
  
Shhhh, calm down, it's all right. Shhhh. He didn't really mean   
it, you know how men are, he just didn't think about what he was   
doing, that's all, Shara told her host gently. Really she didn't   
know how men were and she had no idea whether Ranma had planned   
his little stunt or not, but Satori needed to hear some   
comforting words or she would cry all night.  
  
"But I broke her arm," Satori sobbed."And Ranma knew that   
something like that would happen when he convinced me to spar with   
her. I hate him!" She buried her head in a pillow and continued   
to sob.  
  
The sound of someone knocking on the door went ignored by Satori,   
but Shara was well aware of it. She let Ranma stand at the   
door, knocking intermittely, until he started asking Satori to let   
him into the room in a pitiful voice. Then she began nagging   
Satori. Finally, Satori sat up and rushed over to the door,   
unlocked it, and ran back to the bed where she busied herself by   
crying some more.  
  
Ranma entered the room and stood at the side of Satori's bed. Damn   
it was awkward."Satori, will you listen to me for a minute, please?"   
he eventually asked.  
  
Satori ignored him.  
  
This wasn't working all that well. Maybe a different approach."I   
know that what I did was stupid and insensitive," that   
sounded good,"but I'm sorta dense when it comes to girl things.   
I really didn't think breaking Akane's arm would upset you like it   
did. Not that I meant for you too do that. All I really wanted   
to happen was for her to attack you and realize that she couldn't   
hurt you. I figured that it would make her leave you alone since   
we're friends and she doesn't really react too well other girls   
around me." He floundered around for more, but decided upon   
a simple,"I'm really sorry."  
  
Satori gave no indication that she had heard Ranma.  
  
Ranma apologized several more times, but got no response, so, giving   
up for the day, he went to report his failure to his mom.  
****  
  
Shara felt like screaming. Ranma had really tried to apologize,   
but Satori paid no attention. Their relationship was still to new   
and fragile to allow this matter to go unresolved. She would have   
to do something herself. A few moments of thought brought the birth   
of an idea, and a minute of digging around in Satori's memory   
the material to carry it out. Within another minute Ranma's   
apology was playing repeatedly in Satori's head, along with   
various pictures of Ranma that Satori had mentally catalogued.   
There, that had to work.  
****  
  
Author's notes: Here is the completed chapter 6. I know that it's   
not much more that what I posted at first, but some really bad   
computer problems have been killing any desire I had to write.   
Things are about fixed though, and I should be writing regularly   
within a couple of days. Don't worry, the next chapter is gonna have   
a lot more action and comedy in it, with a lot less emotional   
crap. C&C always welcome. It really helps and the encouragement   
might get a chapter out a day faster, ya never know.  
  
dark_phoneix@hotmail.com 


End file.
